Crystal Clear
by Snowing Petals
Summary: The summer quickly comes to an end. Crystal thinks it's a complete horror but she stumbles apon someone interesting..with gloves and golden eyes...
1. Coincidence

Woot! Presenting Chapter one of Crystal Clear! I know it's short. Most of my beggining chapters are. Sue me. Anyways. On to the disclaimer. Please R&R! Greatly appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: No. I still don't own FMA. I Never will. sighs

ONWARD!

* * *

First day of school. The alarm clock screamed at her to get up from across the room. Yawning she threw her pillow at it and lazily pulled the covers over her head. There was no way it could be the first day of school already. Summer had flown by. The door suddenly flung open and she felt someone sit on her legs. "Get up, Retard!" came the despisingly familiar voice.  
"Get off me, Michael!" struggling furiously she managed to shove her brother away. "I'm up jeeze."

"Good." He smirked, "My job here is done."

"Get out."  
"Whoa little sister's got a temper this morning."  
"Get. Out."  
"Alright I'm going."

Shutting the door behind him she lazily threw on a light blue T-shirt and a pair of old jeans. It was only the first day of grade 11. How spiffy do you need to look? She quickly brushed her straight dark brown hair. Grabbing her books she stuffed them into her new backpack. Quickly snatching her I-Pod from her bedside table she scurried down the stairs into the kitchen. "Morning, mom."  
"Morning, Crystal! Don't forget to eat before you go."  
She was handed a piece of toast, which she ate quickly, followed by a glass of milk. She was out the door and on her way to the bus stop. She glanced at her watch. 8:26 AM. Two minutes to get to her stop before the bus came. Crystal started to run.

Hopping on the bus she was gestured towards the back of the bus by a wave of her friend's hand. Crystal sat down and propped her backpack on her knees. "Hey, Kai!"  
"I told you not to call me that."  
"Too bad."  
"Says you. _Crysie._" Her friend mocked.  
"I told you not to call me that."  
"Too bad."  
"Even?"

"Sure."  
Both girls laughed. Most of the bus ride was silent. Kailee stared out the window while Crystal looked around the bus for new faces. About three seats away sat a some-what short boy. He had blonde hair and was wearing pretty much all black. Crystal nudged her companion who tore her eyes away from the "sites" out the window. "Who's that?" she asked gesturing to the blonde she had spotted.

"Names Edward, I think," came the response.

"You met him?"  
"He's at my bus stop," she replied dully looking back out the window.

"Informative. Do you know what grade he's in?"  
"Ours."  
"You're talkative today"  
"It's morning. Of course I am."

Crystal rolled her eyes and looked back at the blonde. '_I wish he'd turn around. I can't even see his face.'_ The bus suddenly slowed down and came to a stop. Looking out the window she noticed they were at school already. She pulled her backpack over her shoulders and got up. As soon as she stepped off the bus she caught up to him. "Hey! Wait up!"  
He stopped and turned around. Gold eyes looked back at her. His blonde hair was tied back into a loose braid. He was shorter than her but not by much. She came up beside him and held out a hand. "My name's Crystal. You're Edward right?"  
"I am," he wore light gloves. Glove met bare in a tender shake.

She blushed slightly and pulled her hand away from his. It seemed odd that he wore long sleeves and gloves on such a warm day.

* * *

So. That was chapter one of Crystal Clear. Please R&R!  
(This is usually the part where I'm mean to Ed but I'm far too lazy to think of anything right now. Lol.) 


	2. A Bit of Trouble

Wow chapter 2 took me a while. Sorry for the wait! Please R&R! Its greatly appreciated!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA.

ONWARD!

* * *

Several lists covered the walls of the front foyer opposite of the office. Class A11… Class B11… Class C11. Crystal scanned the lists. C11, Mrs. Gaspworthy. Scanning again she found Kailee's name and also Edward's. '_Odd…_' Edward Elric. 

"Crystal am I in your class? I can't find my name anywhere over here."

"Yes, Kailee. And so is that Edward Elric boy."

Struggling through the crowd they managed to escape. Skipping 2 stairs at a time they climbed their way up to room C11. Crystal stopped suddenly. Looking down the grade 10's hallway she saw a boy that looked a bit like Edward. The boy had dirty blonde hair that was a fair bit shorter than Ed's, although his features were fairly similar. "Crystal!" Kailee's voice interrupted her. "Get your head out of the gutter! You don't want to be late do you?"

Crystal solemnly shook her head and followed her friend up the stairs. She noticed Edward walking into one of the homerooms. Immediately she knew it must have been their homeroom. Picking up their pace they made it into the classroom just as the bell rang.

Loose bangs framed his face. He sat in one of the desks looking at a small booklet of papers that had been stapled together. Obviously his timetable and other information. Suddenly the teacher came and shoved a booklet at Crystal and one at Kailee. Frowning she looked down at it. Her dark brown hair fell into her face. She lightly brushed it away and flipped the page over. Forms, forms, and more forms. Ah! Her timetable. She glanced at her friends to see if they had any classes together. Surprisingly they had several classes together. Both girls grinned. Maybe this year wouldn't go by as long as last year had.

"Hey." Edward had walked up to the two girls. "What classes are you in?"

"Umm…" Crystal scanned her classes. "Nothing too exciting. Math, LA, Geography, History, Science…"

"In that order?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

"Heh." Kailee nudged her friend and smirked. "Maybe this'll get interesting."

"Shut up."

"Make me"

Crystal glared at her teasing tone. Edward looked back and forth at the two girls. He was clearly not paying much attention to what they were saying. "Um. Right. Well. I'll be going." Edward quickly slipped away back to his desk. The two friends exchanged glances then burst out laughing. He looked up, shocked.

The bell rang. Time to meet their social teacher. Crystal rolled her eyes. This would be so much fun.

--------------

"You'll all need a three-ring sturdy binder. It should be a fair size too. You'll need the room."

Crystal quickly jotted down the supplies she needed. She glanced over at Edward, who sat right next to her. Kailee sat on her other side. Suddenly Ed let out a yawn, one that wasn't loud at all. The social teacher looked in his direction. "Edward! Is something _boring_ you?" The class looked at him as well. Edward blushed a bit. Crystal and Kailee both silently laughed. "N-no! Of course not!" he quickly sat up straight. Mr. Tombala Glared at Ed and continued listing items they would need and about the lesson plan for that year.

Crystal gazed out the window. It was starting to drizzle. '_So much for a warm day_.' She sighed and turned her attention back to the rambling teacher. '_Just three more classes before lunch. Just three more classes_.'

--------------

Finally the bell rang. Kailee stretched, her friend doing the same. Both girls made their way to the cafeteria. "Yes! Finally lunch!" Both girls stood in the line, chatting all the while. "Ah good they have pizza!" Crystal nudged her auburn friend who was standing on her toes, to see the menu, announcing the items. They handed their money to the lunch lady that took care of the cash register. Finding two empty seats they sat down. Crystal looked around.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Edward."

"Ah. Why?"

"No reason."

"You like him don't you?"

"NO!"

"Hi Crystal, Kailee"

"EDWARD! HI!" Crystal spun around in her seat and stared up.

"You like who?"

"NOONE!"

Kailee began to laugh. Crystal glared at her and smacked her upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Dunno. Just felt like hitting you."

Kailee scowled and went back to eating her lunch. Edward sat in an empty seat across from them. They all had similar lunches; pizza, chips, and juice. Healthy wow.

* * *

Haha. Sorry. I know. Its a terrible place to end it but I couldn't think of any other way. My appologies. I'll be posting chapter 3 ASAP! (Haha that rhymed.) Please R&R! I love getting your opinion! I'd appreciated if there aren't any flames though. Thanks! Untill next time! Toodles! 


	3. Basketball And A Little Envy

Chapter three is finally out. Sorry it took a while. Please R&R! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA or a couple of the ideas in this chapter. (coughs) Half of the stuff that happens in this chapter was thought up by Crystal.

ONWARD!

* * *

"Ugh. I hate the gym uniforms" Kailee tugged at the shorts showing how baggy they really were.

"Me too." Crystal sighed.

Gym class. Oh, what fun. Both girls glanced around. Ed suddenly came out of the change rooms and headed towards the two, grumbling all the way. "Ugh. Whoever made the pants only made them medium and large!"

"Ed I think those are small." Kailee examined the shorts.

"…Shut up…"

"No extra small." Crystal laughed at Edward's frustration.

"I'M NOT SMALL!!!"

"Course you're not."

"Grrr…"

"Come now children, the teacher is waiting," Kailee teased.

Gathered at the side of the gym, the class listened to the teacher tell them about the 'wonderful' term plan for the year. _(Well not really… but what teacher wouldn't want to hear that?) _Crystal and Kailee sat side-by-side, whispering the whole time. Edward just tugged at his pants, silently cursing the company who made them. "Alright! So we're all clear on what the lesson schedule is?"

"Yes." Came the lazy response from the class.

"Alright. Everyone go grab a basketball and practice a bit. I need to go and run a few copies of the year's course."

With that everyone got up and got a basketball and started shooting hoops and what not. Edward stood back a few meters from the hoop and threw the ball. It spun around the rim a few times and finally fell through. He grabbed his ball once more, stood further back, and made the shot again. The ball hit the backboard and fell through the hoop. This time he grabbed the ball and threw the ball backwards. It whipped through the basket, not even touching the hoop. _(Ed's got Skillz!)_

Crystal and her friend both came over to the basket Edward was at. Dribbling a couple times, Crystal shot at the hoop but missed. _'Darn…'_ Kailee laughed at the dismayed look on her friend's face. She picked up her ball, dark hair falling over her shoulders. Giving the ball a hard shove, she thrust it at Kailee. Dropping her ball in order to catch the one Crystal had just thrown at her; she caught it with a grunt.

She thrust the ball back at Crystal who, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards and ended up tripping over a ball that was rolling behind her. Kailee picked up her ball and tossed it at the basket. It bounced and rolled around the hoop a bit then fell through. "See? That's how you throw a ball."

Crystal got up, muttering something under her breath. Edward looked at the two girls. They argued a lot. Concentrating he made another basket. Then another. Two boys came over towards the small group. "Yo, Edowardo."

"My name is Edward."

"Same thing."

"Not really."

"Whatever."

"Who are you two anyways?"

"I'm Envy and this is Roy."

Edward had a look of shock and some other emotion spread across his features. Both girls looked at each other then at the boys. What was with Ed? It looks like he just came face to face with a ghost or something.

* * *

So that was chapter three. I know this chapter is really short but I got to this part and had to stop 'cause of my 'oh-so-brilliant' cliffhanger. (laughs)

Crystal: Bow down to me!  
Me: (sweatdrop)  
Ed: Um...  
Crystal: Love all my amazingly Gasp worthy ideas. (cue evil laugh)  
Me: Oh yes. Brilliant. Thanks.  
Crystal: YOU'RE WELCOME! (smiles all happily)  
Ed: ...  
Me: Um... right... Thanks for reading! Please Review!!!


	4. MSN And A Sunset

Woot! Chapter four is _finally _done! Wow! 15 reviews! Go me! Lol! Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA.

ONWARD!

* * *

Envy was leaning against Roy, who stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Crystal looked back and forth between Ed and the two boys. By now Ed had come out of his shock and was sending death glares at Envy. "I don't know how you got here but you have no business here."

"And you do?" Envy raised an eyebrow.

Edward looked away from the two standing in front of him. "I'm looking for something. I was granted permission to be here."

"By who?" Roy asked curiously.

Kailee and Crystal exchanged glances. What were they talking about? Both girls stood shoulder to shoulder. Crystal suddenly thought of something. Edward had never mentioned where he was from before… but that couldn't have anything to do with this… could it?

"It's none of your business."

"I'm sure it's not. Why else would I want to know?" Roy smirked.

Edward grimaced. He hated that smirk. It was just the same as before. It mocked him in so many ways. Despising. He turned away from Envy and Roy. Walking past the two girls he closed his eyes and forced a smile. Kailee turned to Crystal and gave her a questioning look. Crystal just shrugged.

DING DING DING!!! The bell startled both girls. Finally. Time to go home.

--_**Later that day**_--  
Crystal opened up her lap top and signed onto MSN. Suddenly a little box popped up on the bottom corner of her screen. _'A Golden Sky' has signed on._

A Golden Sky says: Hey Crysie!

Lips Of An Angel says: … Kailee…. How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?

A Golden Sky says: At least a million.

Lips Of An Angel says: And I'm at…?

A Golden Sky says: I'm not dork enough to count, loser!

Lips Of An Angel says: LOL!

A Golden Sky says: So wutcha doing?

Lips Of An Angel says: Checking my email.

A Golden Sky says: Get anything from Mr. Golden-eyes?

Lips Of An Angel says: Don't call him that.

A Golden Sky says: Ooh so you like Mr. Mystery better?

Lips Of An Angel says: … That's a really lame name.

A Golden Sky says: But it sounds so cool!!!

Lips Of An Angel says: Suuure it does.

_A Golden Sky may not reply because his or her status is set to Busy._

Lips Of An Angel says: What are you doing that makes you busy?

A Golden Sky says: Brad just signed on. Shut up for a sec.

Lips Of An Angel says: OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!

A Golden Sky says: Shut up Ms. Elric.

Lips Of An Angel says: (gasp) Shut UP!!

A Golden Sky says: Make me.

Lips Of An Angel says: Grr…

A Golden Sky says: OH YA! BURN ON YOU!

Lips Of An Angel says: (rolls eyes) whatever. I'm going for a walk. Later.

A Golden Sky says: Peace

Crystal turned off her I-Pod and, closing her laptop, she pushed herself off her bed. Piling up her supplies by her door she dragged herself downstairs and stretched. "Mom! I'm done my homework! I'm going for a walk!"

"Okay! Don't be too long!"

"I wont." Crystal tugged her sweater off the coat rack and pulled it over her head. Slipping her runners on she headed out the door. It was getting cooler out. The sun was beginning to set. Colours began to streak across the sky turning the clouds a magenta colour. The park was almost deserted.

Walking silently along the path she soon came to a small lake. The colours of the sunset shimmered on the rippling water. She closed her eyes letting the faint breeze brush against her face. Opening her eyes again she looked around. A boy was walking through the park towards the lake. She suddenly recognized the golden eyes that shimmered as the setting sun dazzled its light across his face. The golden blonde hair that was tied back into the loose braid. The muscular features that spread across his body.

Edward walked up to her, noticing her standing there from a ways away. He smiled at her and looked out onto the lake. "The sunset is really nice tonight isn't it?"

"Um… Yeah…"

Silence.  
"Edward… When you were talking to those two boys in P.E…. What did you mean when you said that you were looking for something? And when you said that you were 'granted permission' to be here…?"

He was silent for a while, just staring out at the lake. The look in his eyes was considering. Determined. His gaze penetrated the evening light. Crystal gazed in his direction at the lake. Crystal sat down on the cool grass. Edward sighed and sat down next to her. "It's sort of a long story…"

Crystal looked back at Edward. "I've got the time."

"But you may not believe me…"

"If it's the truth I'll believe it."

Edward's gaze softened. "You're a really nice girl, Crystal."

She didn't have a clue how to respond. All she could think of was, "Thanks."

"It's something I can't explain to you right now."

"When can you?"

"I don't know really…"

She dropped her gaze to the grass in front of her. It was starting to get dark out. Crystal sighed and got up. "I should probably start heading home."

"Me too."

"Where do you live?"

"Just a few blocks away. Near your friend."

"Do your parents work?"

A look of darkness filled Edwards gold eyes. He scowled and looked away. "My mother died when my brother and I were young. Hohenheim is just a crappy parent. My brother and I live alone."

"Oh… sorry…" Crystal looked away from Edward.

He sighed. "No… I'm sorry."

"Oh! Do you have MSN?"

"Um. Yeah I do. Why?"

Crystal gasped. "What's your contact?!"

Edward grinned. Crystal pulled out a small sheet of paper and handed it to him along with a pen. Quickly scribbling the information on the paper he handed it back to her. Glancing down at it she laughed. Fullmetalgiant1910 was printed in bold letters on the little slip.

* * *

lol I dont have a clue whether or not thats a real email so dont even try contacting it just in case. This chapter was a fair bit longer than my other chapters and I've been working on A Golden Sky so thats why it took me so long. Sorry for the wait!


	5. Midnight

Woot! 1274 words! Go me! This Chapter took me like 5 hours. (dies) I'm very proud of it! Lol! Please R&R! I hopt you all like it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own FMA or MSN. lol...

ONWARD!

* * *

Crystal looked down at her computer as it made a noise. 

_A Golden Sky has logged on._

A Golden Sky says: Hey!

Lips Of An Angel says: Hi

Ghost On Drugs says: Back from your walk so soon?

Lips Of An Angel says: Yup.

Lips Of An Angel says: Interesting screen name…

Ghost On Drugs says: Lol! I know!

Crystal Queer says: HA! How's mine?

Ghost On Drugs says: Aawwwssommme!!

Fullmetal Giant has logged on.  
Fullmetal Giant has been added to your conversation.

Fullmetal Giant says: Yo

Ghost On Drugs says: Who's this?

Fullmetal Giant says: Edward.

Ghost On Drugs says: Oh Reeeaaly?

CrystalQueersays: Shut up.

Fullmetal Giant says: …

CrystalQueersays: BRB

Fullmetal Giant says: Okay

Ghost On Drugs says: Alrighty

Crystal Queer may not reply because his or her status is set to Be Right Back.

Emma Dilemma has logged on.

Emma Dilemma ha been added to your conversation.

Emma Dilemma says: Hi

Ghost On Drugs says: Howdy!

Fullmetal Giant says: Who's that?

Emma Dilemma says: Emma. Who are you?

Fullmetal Giant says: Edward.

Emma Dilemma says: …?

Ghost On Drugs says: He's in our class.

Emma Dilemma says: Oohh.

Fullmetal Giant says: Um… yeah…

Emma Dilemma says: Where's Crystal?

Ghost On Drugs says: Don't know. She left just before you came on.

Crystal Queer says: Back

Ghost On Drugs says: There she is.

Emma Dilemma says: Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Fullmetal Giant says: Lol.

Not A ROBOT!! has been added to your conversation.

Not A ROBOT!! says: Hi brother!

Fullmetal Giant says: Hi

Crystal Queer says: Brother?

Ghost On Drugs says: Brother?!

Emma Dilemma says: Why is your name "Not A ROBOT!!"?

Not A ROBOT!! says: Um… humor?

Fullmetal Giant says: Ahahaha! Al has a strange sense of humor! Don't you, Al?

Not A ROBOT!! says: Of course I do.

Crystal Queer says: You have a BROTHER?!

Fullmetal Giant says: Yeah

Not A ROBOT!! says: Yup!

Crystal Queer says: Since WHEN?!

Emma Dilemma says: Crystal… don't you think that question is a bit obvious?

Ghost On Drugs says: LOL!

Crystal Queer says: …shut up…

Fullmetal Giant says: Good job. -,- and beside I JUST told you that at the lake.

Not A ROBOT!! says: So THAT'S where you were!

Fullmetal Giant says: I told you I was going for a walk!

Crystal Queer says: Oh… Right… you did tell me that didn't you?

Fullmetal Giant says: Yes. I did.

Ghost On Drugs says: Smooth, Crystal. Very smooth.

Emma Dilemma says: Nice going.

Crystal Queer says: You're all picking on meee!!!

Emma Dilemma says: (pats crystal on the back) Sorry. You're just fun to bug.

Ghost On Drugs says: Too fun!

Crystal Queer says: Man, I feel so loved.

Emma Dilemma says: You are!

Ghost On Drugs says: Yes! We LOOVE YOOU!

Crystal Queer says: Disturbing…

Fullmetal Giant says: Umm…

Not A ROBOT!! says: (blinks)

Crystal Queer says: Anyways. (cough) I better go.

Fullmetal Giant says: Same with Al and me.

Ghost On Drugs says: See you guys at school tomorrow!

Emma Dilemma says: Oh! Can't wait to meet your brother!

Ghost On Drugs says: (nudges Emma) Hehehe

Crystal Queer says: (rolls eyes) you guys are so weird.

Not A ROBOT!! says: Bye!

Not A ROBOT!! has logged off.

Fullmetal Giant has logged off.

Crystal Queer has logged off.

Ghost On Drugs says: Hehehe. Later Emma!

Emma Dilemma says: Later Kailee!

Ghost On Drugs has logged off.

Emma Dilemma has logged off.

Crystal put her laptop down on her bedside table. Yawning she pulled on her pajamas and turned out the lights. Her room was lit by the moon alone. The drapes swayed in the small breeze that escaped the outdoors and swirled into her room. She slid into bed. Cool sheets making her shiver a bit. Closing her eyes she sighed. 'What is Edward hiding from me?'

Sleep tugged at her, pulling her into darkness and a world of dreams.

-Dream Sequence-

Edward stood by the lake. He was wearing black clothes with white trim. The moon shone brightly in front of him. Crystal found herself walking towards the silhouetted boy. Images began swirling before her eyes. Were these Ed's thoughts? She shuddered as one image in specific caught her attention. A woman was lying motionless on a bed. Her brown hair seemed to be loosely tied back. A sheet covered her.

Another image swirled by her face. A gravestone. Two boys sat at it. The younger of the two was crying. The sunset was an eerie shade of gold and red. More images of a boy in a suit of armour suddenly flowed by.

Crystal stared at the image of a man wearing a blue military uniform. He looked very similar to the boy who was bugging Edward earlier. What was his name? Oh yeah. Roy. There were so many images of people. A short old lady that was wearing an apron, a young teenaged girl with long blond hair, a person who looked strangely identical to Envy.

Crystal watched an image pass by. It was of Edward. He was yelling at a man with a strange cane. A girl stood next to the man with a frightened look upon her face. The suit of armour stood next to Edward. Crystal's eyes widened. Edward had a metal arm and leg. Suddenly the images stopped rushing into her vision.

Edward turned from the lake to look at her. Crystal started to run towards Edward but he kept getting farther away. 'What's going on?!' "EDWARD!" she screamed. Something pulled her backwards. She turned around to see a very large door that stood at least 15 feet tall. It creaked as it slowly opened. Fear struck down on her and she tried to run from all the hands that had appeared from the door and were trying to grab her but she couldn't move.

Screaming she struggled to free herself from them. They gripped at her leg causing her to fall over. The door loomed over her and she looked into it. All the hands grabbed onto her and picked her off the ground. Several sets of eyes stared at her. She forced her eyes shut and screamed, "EDWARD!!!"

Crystal gasped. Sitting up in her bed she dug her fingers into the sheets. Sweat glazed her forehead. Tears began to fill her eyes. What happened? Why hadn't he tried to help her? What did all those images mean? Who was the woman laying on the bed?

She shut her eyes and rubbed the tears from her eyes. Remembering the image of Edward she jerked up. He had had a metal arm and leg! Shaking her head she tried to clear her mind. The moon seeped through her window. It must have been midnight or later. She sighed. It was only a dream. Ed couldn't really have metal limbs… right?

* * *

I'm adding a new character because I was going to add her in an earlyer chapter but forget (sweatdrop) sorry Emma! I'll dedicate the cha.. well no I can't do that because well.. theres only a small part with you in it... But the next chapter will have more! 

Edward: You enjoy MSN conversations dont you?  
Me: That I do.  
Emma: I'm in! I'm in!  
Crystal: YAAAY!  
Me: Yup!

When I wrote this chapter I was listening to Evanesence. Lol. It kinda inspired the whole nightmaring thing that went on there. Hope Everyone loved it! Please R&R!


	6. Truth or Dare

Woot! Chapter 6 is done for all of you who have been waiting! ... well and for whoever else wants to know... but thats beside the point. Anyways! Thanks for all the reviews! 22! Wow! Keep reviewing! You all Rock! .

DISCLAIMER: I do not own: Blah, blah, blah, Fullmetal Alchemist, blah, blah, blah. sighs

ONWARD!

* * *

"Truth or dare?"

Ed thought for a moment. "Dare."

"Hm… what could I possibly do to torture you…?"

Kailee laughed at the startled expression on Ed's face. Edwards's younger brother came back into the room carrying some glasses of water. "Is it Ed's turn?"

"Yeah. Crystal is trying to be mean."

"Hey! I can be mean!" Crystal exclaimed in defense.

"Sure, sure."

Emma sat opposite of Crystal, who was in between Ed and Kailee, in the boys' living room. Emma motioned for the boy to sit in between Ed and her. Crystal suddenly smirked. "I dare you to… ask a boy out on a date!"

Edward looked at Crystal and raised an eyebrow. "Hell no."

"But it's a _dare_! Besides you can pick the guy. And you can tell them it was a dare or whatever."

Edward shook his head. "There is no chance in hell."

Crystal pouted. "Pleeeeaase?"

"No."

Sighing Crystal got up and walked over to Edward's brother. "I could always make you ask Alphonse out on a date." She grinned mischievously.

The two brothers exchanged glances. "You. Are. SICK!"

The girls laughed. "Edward, you better do it or she'll re-dare you and she has never given more than two dares per turn." Kailee grinned.

Edward clenched his fists. Edward muttered something under his breath. "What's that?" Crystal crossed her arms and smirked. "Didn't quite catch what you said."

"Never mind."

Crystal crouched beside him. "Oh, 'cause I thought you said something about your brother."

Alphonse looked up. Kailee raised an eyebrow. Edward closed his eyes and huffed. "Fine. I said that at least Al would know it was a dare."

Everyone burst out into laughter. Edward looked around the room. "What?! What's so funny?"

"It's nothing," Crystal said between laughter. "Well then. I change my mind."

Edward looked up. "About what exactly?"

"I dare you to ask your brother out on a date."

"That is so wrong."

"Do it."

"No."

"Just do it Edward. There is no way of getting out of it. Once she's made up her mind, she has made up her mind." Kailee sighed suppressing a laugh.

Edward crossed his arms. "No."

"Aw come on. Al knows it's a dare. Besides, you know you _want_ to!" Crystal laughed and punched him in the shoulder. She let out a sudden screech of pain. Retracting her arm she clutched at her fist. Her friend came to her side and knelt down. She lifted Crystal's hand off her other, tenderly. Her knuckles were turning red. Edward shifted with a look of horror on his face. "Don't touch my arm!"

The girls looked up at him. Kailee scowled. Crystal's eyes widened. Alphonse quickly got up, "I'll go get ice." Kailee nodded at him and looked at her friend. Crystal's eyes were beginning to tear.

Edward moved away from them. Turning around he bolted into the kitchen after his brother. Alphonse was rummaging around in the freezer gathering ice. Pulling out a bag he dumped a few handfuls in and then wrapped a towel around the bag. "Brother, you really should be more careful."

"How was I supposed to know she'd punch me?!"

"That's beside the point. Maybe you should wear something over your right arm."

"Like what exactly? I can't exactly go around with pillows strapped to my arm."

Alphonse shook his head. "I don't know. We'll figure that out later. Right now we need to see if she's okay."

Edward looked at the floor. "Yeah, I know."

Alphonse gave his brother a sympathetic look. "You'll get her next time."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing." Al walked out of the kitchen laughing.

"Get your ass back here!" Edward ran to the door. "Alphonse!"

Crystal looked over at Al who had just come through the door. Kailee took the bag of ice from his hands and gently placed it on Crystal's hand. Alphonse came and knelt in front of the girls. Kailee kept her gaze fixed on Crystal's hand. "So, where's Edward?"

"Probably sulking in the kitchen," Alphonse shrugged.

Crystal was still looking out at her hands. Abruptly she moved away from her friend and got up. Alphonse and Kailee exchanged glances. Crystal walked towards the kitchen. "I'll be back in a bit."

Edward was leaning up against the counter, staring out the window. Crystal quietly came into the room. Edward turned to look at her as she came over to him. Crystal stopped a few inches in front of him. There was a long moment of silence. The late evening sun was seeping through the open window. Crystal looked into Edward's golden eyes. For a short moment he looked back into her eyes trying to figure out what she was thinking. "Edward…" Crystal dropped her gaze from his.

"I'm sorry," Edward gazed at her throbbing hand.

"No, it's okay… It isn't your fault."

"Yes it is… I should have told you."

Crystal looked up. "Told me what?"

He looked out the window. "About me."

She blinked. "You did tell me about yourself though… kind of…"

He crossed his arms. "You know what I mean."

Crystal shook her head. "No. I don't know what you mean!"

Edward sighed. "You have to promise to keep every word I tell you to yourself. I don't know who I can trust right now. I'm putting my life on the line by telling you this."

"You can trust me."

"Not a word."

"Edward! You can trust me! What's going on?"

He looked away. Reluctantly he took off his overcoat. Underneath he wore a black muscle shirt. Revealing his arms. Crystal's eyes widened and she gasped. Edward's arm glinted in the dying sun. His right arm was made of steel.

* * *

End of Chapter 6! Cliffhanger! All that jazz! (coughs) and no Emma did not just randomly disintigrate... she... had to go... and snuck out... when no one was looking... (sweatdrop)

Emma: You're so mean.  
Me: . Sorry!!  
Ed: haha..  
Crystal: O.O There's stuff going on in this chapter.  
Me: ...  
Ed: ...  
Emma: Who CARES?! I was FORGOTTEN!  
Me: You were not! Just... You... Left...  
Emma: Sure.  
Me: . PLEASE REVIEW!


	7. The Fullmetal Alchemist

Wow! So many reviews! 31!!! I feel so loved! Thanks so much! You all rock! (glomps reviewers)

DISCLAIMER: Nope. I don't own FMA. I do, however, own this fanfic. So there. (insert evil maniac laughter here)

ONWARD!

* * *

Crystal gasped. His arm was steel. Steel! Just like in the dream she had had the other night. She reached out and ran her hand down the mechanical arm. It shone delicately in the dieing light. Edward watched her. She withdrew her hand and looked into his eyes. Golden eyes shone with a bit of a worried look. "Oh, Ed…" Crystal whispered.

Edward looked out the window. Crystal frowned. "What happened?

He looked back at her. "It happened a long time ago."

Crystal gazed at him, a look or worry plastering itself across her face.

"When me and my brother were young we… attempted to go against the laws of the world. In result I lost my arm and leg, Al lost his whole body and was, for a long while, nothing but a soul attached to a suit of armour."

"But Al has a normal human body…?"

"We managed to get his human body back after a long time of searching."

"So why can't you get you're arm and leg back?"

"At the moment, someone else is… using them."  
Crystal gave him a questioning look but decided not to push him when he shook his head.

"My brother and I come from a place called Amestris. There, I work for the military as a State Alchemist. I am referred to as the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Crystal thought for a short moment. "Oh so that's were the Fullmetal comes from in your screen name on MSN."

Edward nodded. Crystal blinked. "So then what's the Giant from?"

Edward practically fell over at this remark. "I'M NOT SHORT!"

Crystal burst out laughing. "Of course you're not."

"I'm not," he confirmed, huffing.

Crystal coughed trying to cover up little fits of laughter. Edward crossed his arms and scowled. Bringing her hand up to her mouth, Crystal forced herself to stop laughing. She cleared her throat and bit her lip. Raising an eyebrow, Ed smirked a bit. "I'm that funny, eh?"

Crystal coughed. "Um. N-no?"

"Mhmm." Ed said **(1)** and closed his eyes.

Crystal poked him. "It's true!"

"Course it is." He opened an eye.

She playfully stuck her tongue out at him. **(2)** He raised his eyebrow at this and started to walk back to the living room before hesitating to pull his overcoat on.

Kailee grinned as Emma walked back into the room. "Where've you been?"

Emma hesitated. "Um. Bathroom?"

Kailee had an odd look on her face. "I wont ask."

Emma and Kailee turned to see Crystal chase Ed back into the room. The two girls exchanged glances. "Whatcha doin'?" Kailee asked, crossing her arms.

Ed and Crystal froze. "N-nothing!"

Al rolled his eyes. "If you say so."

Crystal jumped over to the boys' stereo. "Lets put on some music!"

"Oh! Put on Vibe!"

Crystal grinned. "Okay!" She turned the dial a bit till she hit the station.

Emma and Kailee jumped up. "Ohmygawd! It's Lips of an Angel!"

The girls started singing along. Ed and Al exchanged amused glances and sat back to watch them. The girls sang the popular lyrics.

_Honey why are you calling me so late _

_It's kinda hard to talk right now _

_Honey why are you crying is everything okay _

_I gotta whisper cause I can't be too loud _

_Well, my girl's in the next room _

_Sometimes I wish she was you _

_I guess we never really moved on _

_It's really good to hear your voice_

_saying my name _

_It sounds so sweet _

_Coming from the lips of an angel _

_Hearing those words it makes me weak _

_And I never wanna say goodbye _

_But girl you make it hard to be faithful_

With the lips of an angel

Crystal flopped down on her bed. She sighed. Closing her eyes she pictured Edward's metal arm. She opened her eyes and got off her bed. She walked over to her closet and scanned the items it held. T-shirts, jeans, sweaters, shorts, a couple of skirts she hadn't touched for years, a few tank-tops and tube-tops she hadn't ever touched, a few pairs of Pjs and a nightgown. She looked up at the top shelf, which held a few boxes and plastic containers. She sighed, pulled out a pair of Pjs and changed.

She yawned. Walking over to the chest of drawers that her alarm clock sat upon she switched it off. No need to wake up at 7:45 AM on a Saturday. She opened one of the drawers and pulled out her laptop. Dragging herself back to bed she turned it on. Flipping it open she checked to see if anyone was on MSN. She really didn't feel like talking but she wasn't very tired yet and had nothing better to do. She scanned the list of contacts. Ed and Kailee were on. Suddenly a window popped up. She groaned.

Crystal Queer has been added to your conversation.

Ghost on Drugs says: Hey Crystal!  
Fullmetal Giant says: Hi Crystal

Crystal Queer says: Hi. I'm not gonna talk long.

Ghost on Drugs says: Aaawwww (pouts)

Fullmetal Giant says: I'm leaving soon anyways.

Ghost on Drugs says:( You guys are going to leave me all alone:(

Crystal Queer says: Yes. Deal.

Ghost on Drugs says: … This isn't Crystal's brother is it?

Fullmetal Giant says: Lol.

Crystal Queer says: No. It's just a tired Crystal.

Ghost on Drugs says: Oh.

Fullmetal Giant says: Gotta go. Al wants to watch a movie.

Ghost on Drugs says: Kay. Later!

Crystal Queer says: Okay. Bye!

Fullmetal Giant has signed off.

Crystal Queer says: I best be off too.

Ghost on Drugs says: Aw. Kay :(

Crystal Queer says: Later.

Ghost on Drugs says: Peace!

Crystal Queer has signed off.

Crystal sighed and closed her laptop. She glanced at her clock. 11:42 PM. She ambled across the room to the chest of drawers and put her laptop away. She yawned and stretched. Slipping back to her bed she tugged the covers over her body. Curling up warmly she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to grasp her.

* * *

**(1)** Haha rhyme!

**(2) **She would do that. Honest.

* * *

Couldn't think of a better ending. My apologies. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep reviewing! Sorry if this chapter was kinda short. Hope you liked!

Emma: You put me back in!  
Me: Yeah. Sorry about that.  
Emma: -,- Its alright.  
Me: Am I forgiven?  
Emma: Maybe.  
Me: (pouts)  
Emma: (sigh) Please Review!


	8. The Girl With the Amber Hair

Yay! Chapter 8 is complete! 37 reviews! Thanks! Keep 'em comin! Sorry this chapter took so long. It did turn out to be my longest chapter yet so pats on the back for me! Lol. Thanks for all the help on this chapter Amber! I owe you one! Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: Don't own FMA. Never have, never will. Some ideas are Amber's as well.

ONWARD!

* * *

Crystal tugged a blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans on. She moved over to the window to open the curtains, letting the light seep through. She groaned. Edward had been running through her mind all night. Crystal stretched, yawning. There was something he hadn't told her. Something he was keeping from her on purpose. She could feel it. She sighed. Well, there wasn't anything she could do about it. He'd probably tell her when he was ready to. At least she hoped he would. She didn't want to force him to tell her.

"Crystal! Are you up? There's someone at the door!"

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Yeah mom!" '_Who's coming at 10:00 AM!'_

She lazily made her way downstairs coming face to face with her visitor. "Oh! Edward!"

"Is 'is yer _boyfriend_?" her brother slurred lazily, teasingly.

"Get lost, Michael."

Crystal swiftly led Edward upstairs away from her annoying brother. She shut her bedroom door behind them and flicked on her radio. Flopping down on her bed, she motioned for Ed to sit next to her. He glanced around the room. Crystal's draped were neatly pulled away from the window, tied back with ribbons. The morning light seeped in, giving the room a cheery glow. Ed sat down next to Crystal. She had her eyes closed and was listening to the song that was playing.

'Cuz I lie  
Not because I want to  
But I seem to need to  
All the time  
Yeah, I lie  
And I don't even know it  
Maybe this is  
All a part of my -  
'Cuz I lie  
And if I could control it  
Maybe I could leave it all behind  
Yeah, I lie  
And I don't even know it  
Maybe this is all a part of my  
Flawed design

Crystal shifted as the song ended, waiting for the next to start. She grinned as her favorite song came on. "That's twelve now," she muttered half to herself.

"Hmm?" Ed mumbled as he lay back onto her bed.

"Huh? Oh did I say that out loud?"

Ed nodded lazily.

Crystal laughed. "It's stupid really. Kailee and I are keeping track of how many times we here meant to fly and Kailee is beating me. But not for long. No way. I'm going to beat her. Some how I will."

Edward looked over at Crystal who grinned a bit. "You guys are insane." He tried not to sound amused.

"We are, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah. _Really_."

"Hey! That's not nice!" She poked him in the side.

He jerked up and looked down at her. "Ow!" he teased. "You really need to work on that."

Crystal laughed. "So I've been told."

Crystal was lying on the bed next to Ed who was, now leaning on one hand, looking down at her. Crystal looked up into his eyes. He met her gaze. (Cue evil laughter from Kailee and Crystal hitting me as I write this.) There was a long awkward moment. Crystal coughed.

"Right. Well." Ed stammered and got up off the bed. He walked a few steps away and turned around.

Crystal burst out laughing. Edward had a look of utter shock spread across his face. "You should see the colour of your face right now!" Crystal managed to say between fits of laughter. After a while Crystal stopped laughing. She could tell Ed was somewhat shocked but also amused about something. "What is it?"

He looked up. "Hm? Oh nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

"If you insist."

Edward simply nodded in response.

"M-kay."

Silence.

"Um… Ed… Something's been on my mind…" Crystal broke the silence.

"Yeah? What?"

"Well I had this dream…"

"A _dream_…?"

"May I finish?"

"Go ahead." He sighed.

"Thanks. Anyways… In this dream, which was before I knew you actually had metal limbs I sort of… Saw you in the dream… And you didn't have your sweater on, revealing your steel arm…" she looked at the floor.

"Go on." He encouraged her.

"Well… something started pulling me towards this big door. There were all these eyes looking at me and I couldn't see into the door, even though it was wide open. It was pitch black except for the eyes."

"Can you describe the gate?"

"Gate? I said it was a door…"

"Er… right. I meant door…"

Suspicion welled up inside Crystal. "Um well the door had all these designs on the outside. I didn't have much of a chance to look at it because it opened right away. The door was humungous though!"

"Hmm."

"But these hands came and grabbed me and started forcing me inside the door. I could sort of here something but I didn't know what it was. Kind of a mixture of screams and whispers, I suppose, but I couldn't tell what they were saying."

"The Gate."

"I beg your pardon?"

"That was where you were, what you saw."

"An explanation would be nice."

"It's something that I can't explain to you right now."

"When _can_ you explain it to me?"

"I don't know when yet." Edward shifted his gaze to the window.

Crystal frowned a bit. Her gaze had darkened dramatically from its usual cheer. "Well I'm all ears when you can."

"I'll be sure to tell you when that time comes. I better be going."

Crystal slouched in her seat, lazily reading a book. Ed sat next to her also reading a book. They were both waiting for the bell to ring. She looked up as the teacher walked into the room with a girl beside her. She had long amber hair. The girl's stunning amber eyes scanned the room. Ed looked up. The teacher spoke to her quietly and pointed over to an empty seat next to Ed. The amber haired girl maneuvered through the classroom and slid into the empty chair.

She brushed a strand of loose hair out of her face and faced Ed. "Hi, I'm Ayla."

He paused a moment before responding. "I'm Edward."

Crystal leaned over to look at Ayla. "I'm Crystal."

Ayla gave the two a sweet smile before digging through her bag to pull out a book. She opened to a page near the middle and began to read. Ed had already gone back to his book. Crystal glanced, longingly, at the clock. She couldn't wait for lunch. '_Just 5 more minutes._'

Kailee walked through the door and handed the teacher a small note. She stood, waiting, while the teacher read it. Mrs. Gaspworthy gave her a slight nod. Crystal watched her friend make her way around the desks before sitting in her seat. Kailee leaned sideways a bit. "Who's the amber haired girl?" she whispered.

"Her name is Ayla. New student I guess." Crystal responded.

'_59 seconds…58…57…56…_' Edward yawned. Kailee sighed and pulled out her book. Crystal watched the clock. '_3…2…1…_'

_DING, DING, DING!_

Everyone stood up simultaneously. '_Lunch._'

Al stood in the hallway, talking to the girl who had just arrived. She was the new student in his class. He caught sight of Ed, Crystal, and Kailee out of the corner of his eye. He waved as they made their way through the busy hallways. Ayla walked close behind Ed.

"Ayla!" the girl beside Al squeaked.

"Hi, Amber!" Ayla greeted.

Crystal looked from one girl to the other. "You know her?"

Ayla smiled. "Of course I do! She's my sister!"

Amber had stunning ice blue eyes. Her long dirty blonde hair trailed to her waist. She had mildly pale skin and had a thin figure. She stood with her hands behind her back. She wore a jean skirt and runners. Her sweater was unzipped revealing a light blue tank top.

Ayla was wearing jeans and a pinkish gray t-shirt. Crystal crossed her arms. '_What was that colour called? Ashes of roses or something?_'

Ayla walked up to Edward. She put a small scrap of paper in his hands before tugging on Amber's hand and walking away. Edward opened the folded note. Al came to his brother's side to read it. Crystal sighed and closed her eyes. Kailee came to her friend's side and put her hand gently on her shoulder. Al burst out laughing. Ed stood there in shock. Crystal looked up. Kailee blinked. She grinned and quickly lunged out and snatched the note. Crystal gasped. Edward flailed his arms in the air. "Ah no wait! Give that back! You-" Kailee interrupted him with a fit of laughter. Ed blushed.

Kailee grinned and began to read the note out loud, very dramatically. "Ed, I know I've only known you for a short while but I _have _to confess my _dying_ love for you. I felt it the _moment_ I saw you. Please call me at 555-4598. If you have MSN my contact is LuvMe4ever33. Love, Ayla."

Ed turned a bright shade of red. Crystal burst out into a fit of laughter. Al was leaning against the wall, trying to stop himself from falling over. Kailee bowed dramatically and laughed.

* * *

And that was chapter 8! Don't add that contact. I dont know if its real or not. I just make things up as I go along. Also, fake phone number alert! (makes siren noises) Weeeeoooooweeeeoooo!!! Lol sorry. Anyhoo. Thanks again to Amber! Thanks to everyone who's R&Ring! Thanks! Please review!


	9. Amber and Ayla

Yay! Chapter nine done! This chapter was kind of dedicated to Ayla and Amber so you could get to know their characters and what happens to them and stuff. There will probably only be one to two more chapters like this one that are in the POV of Ayla or Amber. Mostly its Amber though. Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: I owe practically ALL the ideas in this chapter to Amber who basically told the story and I wrote it in more detail and in my words. I also don't own FMA.

ONWARD!

* * *

Ayla paced around her room. Was Ed going to call her or not?! She sighed heavily. She jumped at her computer making a noise. She ran over to see what it was. She had gotten an email. Opening it, she scanned the page. She grinned. It was from Ed. Ayla carefully read the email before reading it three more times. She blinked. Did he just invite her to his house? She read it once more. Right there, last line. '_Crystal and a few of her friends are coming to my place on Friday. Al was wondering if you and Amber wanted to come over as well. You don't have to. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow.'_

'_Wow. What a boring week._' Ayla groaned and stretched. She hated riding the bus. Amber sat next to her. '_Only 2 more stops till we're homebound!_' Ayla tried to cheer herself up a bit. '_Only an hour till Ed's house._' She sighed. '_Only 5 seconds till I go insane._' She groaned and closed her eyes. The bus lurched to a stop. 5 people got off. A few minutes later the bus came to another lurching stop. Ayla sighed with relief. Their stop. The two girls hopped off the bus and made a dash for their house.

Amber unlocked the door and stepped inside, Ayla close behind her. The house was small but it seemed so big with only the two girls living there. Ayla touched her sister's shoulder in a gesture of comfort before making her way up to her room.

Amber followed her up but went to her own room to get ready. Amber sighed. It had been six years since her parents died. Sunday would be exactly seven years. The anniversary of it all. The pain, the crying, the beginning of many sleepless nights. Alchemy was going to fix it all. If she could just become good enough she would be able to bring their parents back to life.

Ayla tugged on a revealing blue tank top. She slipped on a short jean skirt and some runners. She grabbed a sweater and left her room. Ayla shut her bedroom door just as Amber came out of her own room in an outfit similar to Ayla's except she wore long sleeves. Ayla shoved a key in her skirt pocket and the girls began to make their way to Ed and Al's.

Coming up the stone stairs towards the door, Ayla examined the house. It was fairly small but it was a decent size to home a family of three or four. Trees and bushes surrounded the house. Amber and Ayla made their way up the final steps. Raising a hand, Ayla knocked on the door. "Why not just ring the doorbell, bonehead?" Amber snorted.

"I'm old fashioned." Ayla replied halfheartedly.

Amber then proceeded to stick her tongue out just as Ed opened the door. Ayla flicked her sister on the forehead and turned to Ed. "Hi."

"C'mon in." Ed stepped out of the way to let the girls in.

Crystal, Kailee, Emma, and Al all sat or stood at the counter drinking Pepsi and chatting about any random thing that came to mind. Ed, Ayla, and Amber walked into the dining room where everyone was. Al greeted the girls with a smile and his brother with a nod. Ed opened the refrigerator door and offered Amber and Ayla a drink, which they both accepted eagerly. Amber was sitting some distance away from the group but was still engaged in the conversation. Al quietly excused himself from the group and walked over to amber. "Come with me."

Amber hopped off the counter farthest from the group and followed Al out of the kitchen and into the living room. The two sat down on a couch. There was a long moment of silence before Al turned to look at Amber. She was gazing at the wall. "Amber… is something wrong?"

"No…" She paused, "Not… really."

"Can't you tell me?"

She looked into his eyes. "Have you ever heard of Alchemy?"

There was a long moment of silence as Al considered how to answer the question. "I've heard of it, yes."

"Have you ever attempted anything alchemical?"

Another pause. "You could… say that, yes…"

"I had this dream… It kind of scared me… I was outside, just walking around, but I saw you… and then you disappeared and a suit of armour stood where you did… I started to walk towards you but you kept on moving further and further away. I turned around to find you and Ed with a woman… She had light brown hair that was loosely tied back. Other parts are vague but I did get cut from it." She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a scratched arm.

Al examined her arm in shock. The scratches looked like claw marks. He carefully lifted his hand and gently touched one of the scratches. Amber winced but didn't pull back. His touch was so gentle it was comforting even though her cuts hurt.

"Amber, there's something I should tell you…" Al started but trailed off.

"You can tell me, Al." Amber put her hand on his, wincing a bit at the pressure she added. She gently lifted his hand off her arm and placed it on the couch, her hand on his.

Al looked down at her hand then back into her eyes. "Promise me you wont tell a soul what I'm about to say? Not even your sister. Not even Ed. No one."

She nodded. "I promise."

"My brother and I… we're alchemists. We've been studying the art for years now. We've… attempted some things we shouldn't have and have had to deal with the consequences. We've been running after the Philosopher's Stone for a while now."

"Oh! The Philosopher's Stone from Harry Potter?" Amber beamed.

"… Who's that?"

"… Oh…" She pouted. "I was beginning to think it was real."

"Well I don't know about what you're talking about but the Stone we're after is as real as anything."

"Oh. Well anyways. You were telling me something and I interrupted. Go on."

"Um… Oh yeah. Well that was actually pretty much it." Alphonse confirmed though he knew he was leaving several points out. '_I'll tell her more later._'

"I promise I wont tell anyone." Amber gave Al a gentle smile.

Alphonse put his free hand over the hand she had over his. He smiled at her and proceeded to get up. "The others are probably wondering what we're doing"

Amber laughed. "Probably."

The pair made their way back into the kitchen to be invited by suspicious glances and some giggles from Crystal and Kailee. Ed raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Having fun, _little_ brother?"

Al blushed. "Brother!!!"

Ayla and Amber slipped back into their house. It was 10:30pm. Ayla opened the refrigerator door and pulled out some juice. Amber yawned. Ayla turned to her little sister. "Go to bed."

Amber straightened. "I'm not tired though!"

Ayla rolled her eyes. "Sure you're not."

"I'm not!" Amber huffed before yawning again.

"Get your butt up stairs missy." Ayla teased.

"But mooooooommm!" Amber groaned sarcastically.

"Now, young lady, before I ground your butt for life!" Ayla gave her little sister a pat on the head.

Amber sighed. "Yes ma'am."

Ayla grinned and shoved her sister up the stairs. "Bed. Now."

"I already said okay!" Amber laughed.

"I know. Just making sure you weren't lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"You sure about that?"

"Positive!"

"Alright fine." Ayla sighed. "I'm going to bed too."

"Kay. Night!" Amber pushed her door open and stepped into her room. She leaned back on the door, closing it. She stood there for a few moments before sighing and changing into her pj's. Flicking off her light, she stood for a moment in the moonlit room before stumbling over to her bed. She crawled onto the bed and slipped under the cool covers. Amber yawned and closed her eyes, hoping for peaceful dreams.

* * *

And that was the end of chapter nine. Hope you all liked it. (laughs) I'm already working on chapter ten but that probably won't be done for a day or two cause dad's been on the computer lots. Thanks again for the ideas Amber! You saved me like a week of thinking! (laughs) Also, thanks for all the reviews! Glad you like the story! I'll update ASAP!


	10. The Gate

Ha. I felt like being all weird in this chapter so it doesn't sound much like me. Again, alot of the ideas are Ambers. Everyone give her a warm round of applauds. I may not get the next chapter up as quick as I have been for the past couple of days because i now officially have a timelimit on the computer (is depressed) but anyways. Oh! I got volume 9 of the manga FMA a few weeks ago and I was too lazy to mention it till now. (actually I forgot but whatever.) And now I shall stop babbling on about pointless things and get on with the story! Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: Don't own FMA. Also I don't own some of Amber's ideas cuz well... they're hers...

ONWARD!

* * *

Amber drew a large circle on the ground in front of her. She surrounded it with small runes and lines. She stood up and walked to the center of the circle. She put her hands down in front of her and closed her eyes. She gasped as she felt something burning her skin. Alerted, Amber opened her eyes and looked around to see what it was. She glanced at her arm and saw runes being burned into her skin. Her chest began to burn as well. A circle was being imprinted an inch below her collarbone. She started to cough violently. Almost sure she was about to throw up, she covered her mouth.

Amber sat up gasping. Hot tears burned her cheeks. She glanced down at her hands to see that her arms had burn marks, just like in her dream. She started coughing and ran to the bathroom.

Ayla greeted her sister with her usual cheer. "Good Morning!" she chirped.

Amber looked up at her sister from where she had seated herself at the kitchen table. Without a word she got up and pushed her way past her sister and out the door. Ayla watched her sister and jumped as the door slammed shut. '_Whoa. What'd I do now?_'

Amber walked through the park. She came to a stop under a tree by the lake. She flopped down and leaned against the tree staring blankly at the lake water. She wore a baggy sweatshirt and sweat pants. She snuggled up in the baggy clothing to protect herself from the cool morning air. It may have been 10:00 am but man it was chilly. She turned to see Crystal running down the path laughing. Ed followed close behind yelling something at her. Amber smiled inwardly. Crystal probably took something and was running for her life. She squinted to see if she could see the object Crystal had in her hand. It was some sort of silver pocket watch. Amber shrugged and turned her back on them to look at the lake once more.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Gasping, her eyes shot open. Somebody had touched her shoulder. She turned her head to see who it was. Al stood next to her, smiling tenderly. "Morning!" he greeted.

Amber looked up at him for a moment before turning away. Al was silent for a moment. "Is something wrong, Amber?"

No response. She just stood up and began to walk away. Al was completely shocked. He stood there for a moment before running after her. He slowed to a quick walk, keeping pace with Amber. He raised a hand to grab onto her shoulder. Amber's hand slapped his away from her. She turned and began to run. "Amber…?" Al gasped. "Amber!!" He yelled and started to chase after her.

Amber sped up, trying to get away from Al who was closing in on her at a fast pace. Crystal and Ed were stopped up ahead, not aware of the two oncoming people. Crystal caught them out of the corner of her eye just as they started to get extremely close. Ed turned to see them and fell backwards as Amber slammed into him. Al skidded to a stop and took hold of Amber. Crystal helped Ed up and moved behind him as he confronted the struggling girl. She looked at him with rage filled eyes. A fire seemed to burn within them. Her ice blue eyes seemed so unbelievably cold. Crystal stepped back a bit. Edward shifted a bit, in a somewhat protective manner, in front of Crystal.

"Why did you run from me, Amber?" Al asked, demanding an answer.

No reply.

"Answer him!" Edward growled.

"Ed… There's something different about her." Crystal thought aloud.

Al frowned. "Amber… Are you okay?"

Still no reply.

"Amber!" Al exclaimed. "Please answer me!"

Amber whipped her head around. "Let go of me!" she snarled.

"No!" Al scowled.

"Let go, you fool!"

"No!"

Al could feel the heat of rage radiating off of her. She seemed to be almost glowing red. '_Glowing… She's… glowing?_'

"I don't even know your sorry ass!" Amber hissed.

Al was taken aback. "Y-you don't mean that!"

"Moron!" She brought her foot up and stomped hard on his.

Al gasped. His grip loosened just barely but enough for her to spin around and knock him over. Edward flung his arms around her. One around her neck and the other bound her hands together. Crystal walked towards Ed and Al a bit. Edward turned his head a bit. "Stay back!" he warned. Crystal stopped and quickly retreated.

Al stumbled upwards. He couldn't believe she just did that! He stood in front of her now. Amber scowled. "What's wrong?" she smirked a bit.

Al looked at her. "What's wrong?" he raised an eyebrow. "You're asking _me_ that?"

"I'm not talking to your _brother_ now _am_ I?"

"Why are you _glowing_?" Al growled.

"I don't believe that's any of your business now is it?"

Al scowled. "Actually it is."

"Why's that?"

"Because whatever it is hurt Amber and allowed you to take over her."

"My, my. You do your homework don't you?"

"I do my share."

"Well it obviously isn't enough."

Al steamed. '_Sorry Amber_.' SMACK!

Amber gasped. A red mark began to form on her cheek. Ed stared at his younger brother for a moment. He'd never hurt a _girl_ before. But this wasn't Amber. It was someone else. _Something_ else. Crystal stood in horror. She couldn't believe Al just _hit _someone!

Ed was obviously concentrating on something because he began to loosen his grip on her. Amber took this opportunity to slip from his grasp and began to run. Al took after her. They ran a few meters before Al caught up and shoved her into a tree. He pinned her against it and stared into her blazing eyes. There was something beyond the fire. Something pleading to be saved. He kept his grip on her, firmly. She struggled for a while and finally gave up.

"What have you done to Amber?" Al demanded.

Amber grinned. "Whatever do you mean?"

Al glared at her. "You know exactly what I mean. Who are you?"

Amber rolled her eyes. "We've met before, _Alphonse_."

"Who are you?!"

"I am The Gate," she responded coolly.

"What have you done to Amber?"

"Oh don't worry about her. She didn't get _too_ hurt."

"What did you do to her?!" Al nearly screamed.

"She's fine. She got a few scratches and some burns. Nothing she won't recover from over time. The frights of hell she'll face are far worse."

"Why are you doing this?" Al asked pathetically.

"She was pretty much begging me to."

"What do you mean?"

"She wanted to bring her parents back and summoned me in a dream and asked for help in doing so. If you're going to blame anyone, she's who you should go to."

"Liar!" Al yelled.

"It's the truth. I wouldn't lie, for I am the truth."

"That's a completely different thing!"

"On the contrary, I hold the truth to more than I show. I only show the truth of alchemy. Nothing more. I hold the truth to all. Therefore I am the truth, the truth is I."

Al looked away for a moment before tightening his grip. "Give her back," he muttered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Give her back!" he yelled.

"Why?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Because I… I need her." Al trembled a bit. "She's my life."

"Ah. So you love her."

"Give her back!" Al dropped his voice a bit, "Please."

"Only on one condition."

* * *

Bwahahahaha! Bwahahahahahaha! Bwa hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!! Cliffhanger! Man i felt mean in this chapter. Lol. I wont have many more Amber chapters. Two tops but I'm hoping it'll only be one cuz I feel like going back to being mean to Crystal. (insert a gasp from Crystal and some weird laughter from me here.) I was listening to a bunch of songs when I wrote this. Here are a couple.

Flawed Design by Stabilo  
You Got to Me by Rex Goudie  
Love You Lately by Daniel Powter  
Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer  
How to Save a Life by The Fray


	11. Conditions, Conditions

Yay for reviewers! Wow this chapter took me a while! Sorry about the wait. Dont hurt me O.O! I had a bit of writer's block and was busy with school and Christmas shopping and all that jazz! Anyways, on to Chapter 11 of Crystal Clear! ( Wow! Chapter 11 already! ) Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: Nope. Don't own FMA.

ONWARD!

* * *

"Wh-what?!" Ed called from a distance. "Al! You can't! One of us is enough! I don't want you to go through what I had to! Don't be foolish!"

Al looked at his brother pain scorched his eyes. "I have to…"

Ed shook his head in dismay. "Alphonse…"

"Trust me, brother, if there was another way or something I wouldn't, but I have to."

Ed looked at the ground his bangs shadowed his face. Crystal rested a hand on his shoulder. Ed gazed up at her and smiled weakly. Crystal closed her eyes before opening them to look at Al. Ed nearly ran towards them as they started to disappear. Crystal reluctantly shook her head and held him back.

Al shivered. He didn't remember the gate being… cold? How could it be cold? He shook his head. Amber slouched as a transparent shape slipped from her body and into the gate. Al caught her as she fell to the ground. He held her in his arms and whispered unheard words. He softly laid her on the ground and turned to the gate, rising to his feet. "Let's do this, then."

"Yes. Let's."

Ed collapsed to the ground, seeing his brother re-appear. Blood soaked Al's right leg. Amber lay limp on the ground next to him. Al bit his lip, trying not to cry out in pain. Crystal and Ed ran to him. Crystal quickly bent to lift Amber while Ed helped his brother as they quickly made their way back to their house.

Ed shoved his hand in his pocket, searching for his key. Finally grasping it he unlocked the door and helped his brother to the kitchen where the ice and towels were. Crystal dug through the freezer and grabbed all the ice she could manage while Ed grabbed towels.

"I still think we should take him to the hospital, Ed"

"And tell them what?" Ed raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know… He got hit by a car or something?"

Ed snorted. "We can't exactly say that."

"And why not?"

"Well for one, it's a false statement. And for another, the hospital would notice that we weren't telling the truth because usually your leg doesn't get torn off when you get hit by a car."

"Well… When you put it like _that_ it's a bad idea…"

"Exactly. Besides, I know how to take care of these things." Ed placed some towels under his brother's leg and quickly tied a piece of fabric above the wound to slow the bleeding.

Crystal watched as he piled ice around Al's leg. "Well can't we at _least_ call a doctor?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "That's the same as taking him to the hospital."

"But his leg need professional treatment!" Crystal retorted.

"Fine. But I'm not helping you make up a reason _why_ his leg got like this."

Crystal grinned and ran to the phone, quickly dialing the number for the local doctor. She spoke quickly to the receptionist before hanging up and turning back to help Ed while they waited for the doctor to arrive.

Ed and Crystal moved about the room, occasionally bumping into each other and apologizing before quickly going back to what they were doing. Al laughed inwardly, putting aside the pain to enjoy the scene in front of him. Al glanced at the unconscious girl laying on the couch in the front room. Crystal walked over to Amber and replaced the damp towel on her forehead with a new one.

"Hmm…" The doctor examined the wound.

Ed and Crystal looked at each other then back at Al and the doctor. "Is he going to be okay, Doctor Freemen?" Crystal asked politely.

The doctor looked up and examined her worried face. "He'll be fine but you really should have had him go to the hospital. Why didn't you?"

Crystal looked at Ed and he made a gesture as if to say 'the floor is all yours.' She sighed. "Well we were closer to their house than a hospital and we thought it would be quicker and stuff… And also, none of us have our drivers license yet"

Dr. Freeman studied her face for any sign of lying but found none. "Well I suppose that's a good reason," he noted before adding, "You know he'll need some sort of leg right?"

Ed and Crystal nodded. Crystal lightly nudged Ed and he looked at her before turning back to the doctor. "I have two um… mechanical limbs… Do you have any idea where they'd have any? I got mine… a while ago."

Dr. Freeman raised an eyebrow. "Mechanical limbs? No I don't have a clue… well, actually, wait. There is a small place downtown… it's hard to find but I can give you directions." He silently turned to Crystal and handed her a drying towel. "Would you mind re-dampening the cloth, please?" Crystal quickly nodded and left.

Ed grabbed a pen and some paper for the older man to write on. The doctor scribbled down the directions and signed the slip of paper at the bottom. He handed pen and paper back to Ed and watched as the boy scanned the large, and oddly neat, handwriting. Crystal came back into the room and silently read the notes over Ed's shoulder. "32nd Street? Where's that?"

The doctor reached into his pocket to retrieve a folded map. He spread it out across the table and took the pen from Ed's hand. He circled a small opening between two gray squares and, from that, drew an arrow that lead through the miniature versions of buildings that were supposedly skyscrapers and apartments or small shops. He stopped and circled a gray square that was smaller than the rest. "This is the building you need to get to. Follow the map and you wont get lost."

Ed and Crystal exchanged uneasy glances. Ed noted the odd expression on his younger brother's face and blinked sympathetically. "Al? You okay?"

"Hm? Um, yeah… I'm fine…"

"Doctor?" Crystal turned to the dusty-haired man. "Could you stay here a while? Just to keep an eye on Al's wound? We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Lucky for you, you're my last call of the day. I'll stay here."

Crystal nodded politely at the man and turned to Ed. "Got everything?"

Ed had grabbed his small backpack off the hook on the wall and was loading it with the map, directions, some money, and some drinks. Better be safe then sorry. He stood up as Crystal handed him his coat and slung the backpack over his shoulder. Crystal pulled on her shoes and tugged her coat on. She waved to the doctor before quickly following Ed out the door.

The bus stop, a block away, was extremely crowded. Go figure. Ed sighed. "Maybe we should just wait for the next bus, when everyone else leaves."

Crystal blinked at him. "Are you sure that's okay?"

Ed cocked his head a bit to one side. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Crystal shook her head slightly. "Well, don't we want to get to that shop as quick as possible? I mean, if we get there and it, I don't know… isn't there anymore, or something, wouldn't we want to get back sooner to get Al to the hospital or someplace where they can give him some sort of replacement leg?"

"It wouldn't make much difference. His leg will have to heal a bit before we can really do anything anyways. I'm just going there to check this place out, see if it's all that its cracked up to be."

"Oh. I see." Crystal watched as the bus came and picked everyone but them up. Her eyes silently followed the bus as it departed. Exhaust puffed up from the back of the swiftly moving buses and cars that passed. Crystal shivered. It felt like it had suddenly just dropped 10 degrees. A cold wind picked up. Crystal's hair danced in the chilly air. She zipped up her coat a bit more and crossed her arms, trying to warm up her freezing hands. Ed glanced over at her and pulled his gloves off. He shoved his right hand into his pocket, to hide the shiny steel, and presented the white gloves to Crystal. She gazed at him with a look of thanks on her face. The gloves were surprisingly warm. The cloth they were made out of was thin and didn't seem like they would keep the cold away. Another bus finally pulled up to the bus stop, loud breaks screeching. Crystal hopped onto the bus and found two seats near the back. Ed followed and sat beside her. She handed him his gloves back and nodded her thanks. Ed blinked. "Are you sure you don't want to keep them for a bit? It' probably going to be cold when we get off."

"If you don't mind," Crystal shrugged and grinned. Ed smiled back at her and sat back in his seat. The bus ride dragged on for around twenty boring minutes of stopping and starting before it pulled up to theirs. Ed got up and Crystal followed him out into the bitter air. Buildings towered above them. Walls of shops, big and small, lined the streets, enclosing them. Ed flipped the map open and looked around.

Crystal put her finger on the map and pointed in one direction. "Isn't that the alley?"

Ed followed her gaze and nodded. "I believe so."

Crystal grinned and walked towards the alley. Ed casually folded the map up again before running to catch up to Crystal. The alley was lightly lit up by the dying sunlight but was a lot darker than anywhere else. The pair followed the directions and map before finally coming to a fairly rundown building. The bricks were discolored and were crumbling a bit. Ed knocked on the cold, metal door with his right hand.

There was no response. Again, he knocked but louder this time. Still nothing. Ed turned to Crystal and shrugged after a while of waiting. "Maybe they moved?"

"Maybe." Crystal stopped and looked carefully at the door.

"What is it?"

Crystal frowned. "I could have sworn I just heard something…"

Ed turned back to the door. There was a long moment of silence before the door swung open. Ed jumped and Crystal screamed. Ed looked back at Crystal and raised an eyebrow. She blushed. A young man stood in the doorway. His hair was a rusty brown and his skin was fairly pale. The man was taller than Ed and Crystal. He was about 5 inches taller than Crystal in height. His eyes were seemingly cold and hateful but also warm and welcoming. A fire flickered in them with intensity beyond compare. His voice was low and threatening in tone. "Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

DUN DUN DUUUUNN! Lol. Chapter 11 done, onto chapter 12! I'll have it ASAP! (Which may not be for a couple days cuz my grandparents are coming in and Christmas is a couple days away and stuff...) I also might write a Christmas Special chapter or something... I'll see if I have time. Thanks for Reading! Please Review!


	12. Ice

WHOOOOO! Finally done chapter 12. Muahahaa I felt like being really mean so I went back to the Elric house and left you in your suspence about Ed and Crystal and the evil man... BWARDEHARHARHARHARHARHAR! (cough) and on that note, I give you, CHAPTER 12! WHOO!

DISCLAIMER: Blah blah blah, Don't own FMA, blah blah blah, Evil lawyers...

ONWARD!

* * *

Al slouched back into his chair and groaned. His brother was gone and had taken Crystal with him, Amber was still unconscious… which may not be a good thing, and the doctor was in another room making a phone call. He still didn't understand why the man couldn't just make the phone call in the kitchen. Al closed his eyes and hoped for sleep, or at least some sort of daydream to keep him occupied and away from being bored to death. Sigh. He slouched a bit more but frantically sat up as he nearly slid off the chair. Not a good thing to do when you only have one and a quarter leg left to support you. His right leg was bandaged up and was under a pile of icepacks. If this was an anime this is where he would have sweat dropped. At least 10 icepacks covered the injured leg. Well this was going to be just _the most_ amusing day he had _ever_ had in his life… not. The dirty blond haired boy sighed and closed his eyes once more in attempt to amuse himself, one last time. Darkness engulfed his sight until something came into view. He swore he could see the gate ahead of him, in his far sight.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a familiar voice. "Al…?"

He strained to see the blond girl lying on the couch. "Amber?"

"Alphonse? Is that you?"

"Yes. I'm in the kitchen," he stated blatantly.

"What are you doing?" her voice was cracking. "Can you come in here?"

Al glanced at the icepacks on his leg. "I'm… uh… a bit… disabled at the moment…"

"Disabled?" Al could see the girl groggily shifting around so that her head poked out around the corner of the doorway. "AL!"

Amber leapt off the couch and stumbled into the wall. She dropped to her knees and crawled over to Al, who sat watching her from the wooden chair. Amber held up a weak arm and, removing a few icepacks, lightly touched the bandages that suffocated the leg. Al winced a bit. "Does it hurt?" Amber took her hand away.

"Not really. I've gotten used to it."

"What happened?"

"Nothing…"

"Alphonse, tell me!"

He looked away. It was like he couldn't tell her, but why? It would make her worry. That was why. Al ruffled his short, dirty blond hair. "I… I just… It… um…"

Amber grasped Al's hand and stared intensely into his eyes. "Please tell me! Can't you trust me?"

"Of course I can trust you! It's just… I don't want to worry you or anything…"

"You're worrying me by not telling me you big dope!"

"Dope?!"

"Yes, dope," Amber confirmed causing Al to blush. "Tell me or I'll have to call you something worse." Amber let her voice become a bit more serious, "Please, Al."

Al stared at the hand that Amber was still clutching onto. "I… I had to or else I wouldn't get you back."

"From what?" Amber pushed him on.

"The Gate."

"The Gate? The one from my dreams?"

Al nodded, brushing a loose strand of hair behind Amber's ear. Her ice blue eyes were filled with emotions that raced about. Al gazed into her eyes to try and figure out what each one was. Grief, sympathy, anguish, despair, resent… Tears were forming in her eyes. Al gave her a small empathetic smile and brushed away her tears. "It isn't your fault." The whisper seemed to echo about the room. Amber bowed her head a bit.

"Oh, the girl is awake. Good, good."

Al turned to see the doctor standing in the stairwell, a smug look planted on his face. Amber looked up at the man and then to Al. "Who is this?"

"The doctor." Al stated without taking his eyes off the man. There was something suspicious about him and Al didn't trust him. He knew something was wrong with this man since Ed and Crystal left the house. Something wasn't right…

The door suddenly burst open and Amber jumped up, spinning around. "AAAAAAAAAAMBEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR!" Ayla appeared around the door and waved happily. "I knew I'd find you here!"

Al practically fell off the chair. "How did you get in here? Ed locked the door."

"Oh. Roy's pretty good at picking locks." Ayla smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear.

Sweat drop. "…Roy?" Since when was Roy good at picking locks? And since when was Roy in this world?!

"Ayla!" Amber steamed. "You can't just _break in_! That's against the law, no matter how good of friends somebody is! Learn to _knock_ or _ring the doorbell _like a _normal_ person!"

Ayla waved off what Amber said, rolling her eyes, before turning to pull the raven-haired teenager around the corner. Roy? As a teenager?! Al rubbed his forehead and yawned. …What time was it? It was already 5:46 PM! Ed and Crystal had sure been gone a long time.

"Who's the kid in the chair?" Roy poked Ayla.

"Oh, that's right. Roy, this is Al. He's Edward's younger brother. Al, this is Roy."

"Ed? You mean the runt?"

"He's not a runt, Roy! Just… smaller than normal."

"Meaning a runt."

"Whatever."

Al stayed completely silent. Something was different… Roy wasn't the same person… yet, he was. Something pricked at Al. Why hadn't Roy or Ayla said anything about his leg? As if Ayla had read his thoughts she suddenly gasped. "Oh my! What happened to your leg?!"

Amber stared at her sister with a look of cold irritation on her face. "It took you _that_ long to notice it?"

"Well it wasn't _my_ fault! I was simply too… busy to notice."

"Too 'busy' thinking about your new _boyfriend_?" Amber rolled her eyes. "You've changed a lot, Ayla. You used to be a… a better person before we came here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means."

"You can't talk to me like that, Amber!"

"Yes I can. I have every right to. Just because you're older than me, doesn't give you the right to control me."

"I'm not _controlling_ you."

"Not here. At home is a different story. What's with you?" Amber quickly stood and jolted up the staircase, bumping into the doctor on her way.

Amber brushed tears from her eyes. '_… no right… she has no right… she's changed… why has she changed?_' A soft knock came at the bedroom door before it creaked open. Ayla poked her head into the room to lay a soft gaze on her little sister. "Oh Amber…"

"Leave me alone."

Ayla moved into the room and closed the door behind her. She stood, leaning against the handle for a moment before she stepped towards the girl sitting on the neatly made bed. "I said, leave me alone!" Amber shot at Ayla.

Ayla sat on the bed next to Amber but didn't say anything. "Why wont you listen to me?" the younger sister sobbed.

Ayla turned herself so she was facing Amber. "I don't know…"

Amber looked at the wall in front of her. "There has to be some reason. People like you don't just ignore their sibling for no apparent reason. I may be growing up but I still want the comfort of family." Amber stared her sister hard in the eye. "It's because of the gate isn't it?"

"The gate?"

"Oh don't give me that. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Amber spat back. "When I was completely distant from you and everyone else. I heard Crystal talking on the phone with you about it. You're scared I'm going to get possessed again and that I'll come after you or something, isn't that right?"

Ayla kept silent, searching for the right words. "…I suppose that's why."

A heavy silence weighed down on the sisters. Amber looked down at her hands that were firmly clamped down on her knees. Ayla examined the room. A desk was only a few feet from them, sitting bare. On the bedside table, a digital alarm clock and a lamp that was switched off sat. There was a cat poster hanging on the wall near the door and beside the poster, a white dresser was blocking the closet door. Ayla squinted her eyes a bit in thought. Why would you block a closet? Amber stood up. "I don't like not being able to talk to you like I used to, Ayla. I really miss that."

"I do too."

"Then why can't we? We're the only family we've got right now."

"You're right, Amber."

"Of course I am!"

"… Don't ruin the moment."

"Sorry… So we're cool?"

"Yeah."

Amber sat back down on the bed and smiled at her older sister. "Good."

Ayla hugged her younger sister. "So you remember what happened when the gate possessed you?"

"Barely. I'm just starting to remember things and the memories are foggy."

"Well that's in the past now, I'm just glad you're okay."

The two girls turned towards the closed door and blinked. "Did you hear that?" Amber asked.

"Depends… What did you hear?"

"It sounded like Al yelling…?"

The noise came again, but louder. "AH NO! GET AWAY!" _CRASH CLATTER BANG_

* * *

I'm the same height as Ed... Ed isn't short... Not short at all... Anyways. I had to make a floorplan of the Elric house because I kept forgetting where everything was... " It's got a basement, a main floor, and a top floor. It's a cool house too! It's kinda funny though becuase Ed's and Al's rooms are pretty much exactly the same... But that's okay... right? Ah, whatever... I'll get onto chapter 13 as soon as I'm done my stupid portfolio... (hates health)  
NOODLES! (ahem) I mean... Please R&R!


	13. Automail Man

Hellooo to all my loving fans! Lol sorry. Chapter 13! Go me:) Thanks for those who reviewed for the last chapter:) This one didn't take me as long as the last one cuz I've been sick the past while and had the extra time. Anyways, I introduce new characters in this chapter! (This is where you would gasp) And they have cool accents . (Crystal is heard cheering in the background) Ahem. Alrighty! Enough of my babbling! On to the chapter! Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: No... Unfortunatly for me (lucky for you) I don't own FMA.

ONWARD!

* * *

"What is it?"

Crystal frowned. "I could have sworn I just heard something…"

Ed turned back to the door. There was a long moment of silence before the door swung open. Ed jumped and Crystal screamed. Ed looked back at Crystal and raised an eyebrow. She blushed. A young man stood in the doorway. His hair was a rusty brown and his skin was fairly pale. The man was taller than Ed and Crystal. He was about 5 inches taller than Crystal in height. His eyes were seemingly cold and hateful but also warm and welcoming. A fire flickered in them with intensity beyond compare. His voice was low and threatening in tone. "Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but… would it be alright for my friend and I to talk to you about automail?" Crystal grabbed the note, with the directions on it, from Ed and presented it to the man. "Dr. Freeman told us about you."

"Docta Freeman ye say?" The cold hatred lifted from the man's eyes a bit. He had a slight accent, British or something. "Well I'll be. I 'aven't heard of that man fer ages. Bastard he is. Come in, come in."

Crystal and Edward were ushered into the building. The front room was dark and what there were in the way of other rooms were dim as well. The man flicked a light switch, blinding the teenagers. "I don't usually 'ave guests so I keep it dark. Preserves energy." He led the two into a room that was similar to a living room but… more worn down. He motioned for them to sit, so they did. "Now tell me yer names. I be Russell. Ol' Russell Gordon."

"I'm Edward, and she is Crystal." Edward was looking closely at the man. He looked to be around 18 or so… but something reminded him of Russell Tringham.

"Well, now. What can I do ye for?" Russell brushed off Edward's staring and turned to Crystal.

"We were wondering if you could show us the automail you make." Crystal gave Ed a rough elbow in the arm.

"Hey!" Edward shot a look at Crystal.

"Brother! Brother Ru-" a blond girl, about 10 or 11, flew into the room and skidded to a stop before slinking back a bit. "Oh, I didn't know we had company."

"Come, come, Clair. Th're not gonna bite ye."

"Aye. S-sorry, Russ." The girl was similar in looks to Russell but she had sapphire blue eyes while his were more purple-blue.

"My sister is a little shy," Russell grinned at his guests. "Now what's this here 'bout automail?"

"Would you mind showing us what you make?" Crystal asked him politely, tugging off Ed's gloves and putting them in her pocket.

"Not 't all." He got up from his chair and led them into another room. Flicking on the light, he showed them the neatly presented automail limbs. Clair stuck close to her older brother. Crystal smiled to herself. He seemed like a father to the girl. Clair wore a light blue t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. Noticing Crystal's thoughtful look, Clair shifted a bit closer to Russell and sent Crystal a shy smile.

Edward scanned the automail along the wall, stopping to examine a leg more closely and then moving on. Russell pointed out some of the features some of the legs had. Clair hung back by the door, Crystal watched the boys chatting and pointing things out to each other. To Crystal, Ed didn't seem much like the type who'd get close to just anybody… but he seemed to take a liking to Russell. She wasn't surprised much by it though; he seemed like someone Ed could relate to in a way. Crystal looked over at Clair who was leaning against the wall, watching her brother carefully. "You're name is Clair, right?"

Clair jumped a bit and looked over at Crystal. "A-aye."

"How old are you, Clair?" Crystal crouched down and gestured for Clair to come over.

"Eleven and a half," Clair cautiously made her way over to Crystal.

"I'm fifteen."

"Wow yer old." Clair stood in front of Crystal now.

"Old?" Crystal raised an eyebrow. "I think your brother is older than I am."

"He's old too. He's eighteen."

"Eighteen, huh?" Crystal let herself fall off balance and sat, crossing her legs.

"Aye."

Crystal noticed Clair's shyness lifting a bit. "Do you go to school?" _Of course not! She wouldn't be this shy if she did go to school!_

"Nay. Brother don't make enuf money to send me ta school."

"Oh, I see. So you stay home and help him?"

"Aye. He's bin teachen me the basics of automail. It's a dyen thing whether it be a good solution er not."

"It seems like a good way to give people replacement limbs if they need them. I wonder why doctors aren't using the method."

"Prob'ly coz it causes lotsa pain 'n other problems. Yer friend seems to have had a good mechanic."

"Why do you say 'had'?"

"Coz, like I said b'fore. It's a dyen thing. Hardly anybody makes automail and if they do, they be keepen it a secret. Besides, it'sa thing that comes from Amestris. There are only a few like us in this world. Us Gordons and the Rockbells o'er at the other end o' town. They came over wi' Russ 'n our parents a while back. Just after… mum and dad died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't you go apologizin. It wozent yer fault. Besides, people who get all depressed over the fact we don't got parents bother me."

"Yeah. It would probably bother me too…"

"Alright, thanks. Crystal, you ready?" Edward walked over to the girls causing Clair to squirm away.

"Umm I guess so…" Crystal watched Clair go back to hiding behind Russell.

"Let's go." Edward led the way to the front door and nodded good-bye to Russell who nodded back. Crystal waved to Clair before being exposed to the cool rush of air that hit when the door opened. Crystal stepped outside and pulled the gloves out of her pocket. She quickly tugged them on and waited until Ed closed the door behind him and stood beside her. "Did you find anything?" Crystal looked at Ed.

"Yeah. Russell and Clair are going to stop by in a week to see what they can do."

"A week?"

"Yup. That is, unless we need them sooner," Edward met Crystal's gaze.

"Oh, okay." Crystal moved forwards, "I guess we better get back to Amber and Al."

"Guess so." Edward quickly followed Crystal.

-------------------

Edward opened the door, Crystal following him in. "Al? We're back!"

"NOOOOOO! GET AWAY!"

Edward gave Crystal a sideways glance before they both ran into the kitchen only to find…

"What are you doing?" Ed asked in a slightly odd tone.

Al looked up from his place on the floor. Amber and Ayla coughed and stepped away from the doctor who was trying to get away from them and ended up falling over. Roy stayed in his place leaning against the refrigerator drinking coke. Crystal stood next to Ed with a look of shock and disturbance written all over her face.

"He started it!" Ayla pointed accusingly at the doctor.

"Yeah! He was going after Al!" Amber joined her sister with an accusing point at the doctor.

Crystal and Ed exchanged an unbelieving glance. "Doctor Freeman?" Crystal turned to the man on the floor. "Is this true?"

"They're lying!" Dr. Freeman exclaimed, exasperated.

"Liar!" the girls yelled at him.

"LIARS!" the man yelled back.

"SHUT UP!" Ed yelled and glared at them. "Now, which of you dumbasses knocked Al off the chair?"

"It was him!" the sisters pointed at the doctor again.

"It was them!" the doctor pointed at the girls.

"Oh, shut up." Edward rubbed his forehead before jumping when he noticed Roy. "What the hell?!"

"Nice way to greet a guest, shrimp-o." Roy turned from his soda to smirk at Ed.

"WHOAREYOUCALLINGSOSHORTTHEWINDCOULDPICKHIMUPANDBLOWHIMAWAY?!"

"…I don't see any other shrimps in here, do you?" onyx eyes burned into gold.

Edward growled and turned his back to Roy. Crystal quickly sent him and apologetic look and turned back to the group. "Al? Are you okay?"

"Fine, I suppose."

"Want to tell us what happened?" Crystal blinked at him.

"He started it." Al pointed at the doctor. "He's a lying, untrustworthy… person!"

Edward let out an irritated sigh and looked over at Crystal who looked back and shrugged. "Doctor?"

"They're a bunch of _liiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaars_!!!"

"Doctor…"

"WHAT?!"

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get. Out."

"Whyy?" The doctor pouted.

"Coz I don't like you. And, frankly, I believe my brother. Get out."

The doctor stood up and dusted himself off. "You haven't seen the last of me!"

"I'm sure, not out." Edward pushed him towards the door.

"I'll be back! MUAHAHAHAHAHA-" The doctors laughter was cut short by a door in the face. A muffled "Ow! My nose!" was heard from outside.

Edward walked back into the kitchen and hauled his brother off the ground. "I don't trust him…"

"I don't think any of us do, brother." Al settled himself back down in the chair.

"He's going to be back…"

"I don't doubt that." Crystal crossed her arms.

Edward pulled out some fresh ice from the freezer and put the warm packs in the freezer. "We're going to need some more ice from the basement," he noted allowed.

"I'll go get it!" Crystal offered enthusiastically.

"Alright. To get to the stairs you need to go though the computer room. They're in another small room, the door should be open." Edward instructed her.

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit with the ice."

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HAM AND MEEP!  
Good. I have you're attention. :) My next chapter of Weirdness is going to be called Ham and Meep for those of you who don't look at my "Expected Updates" section on my profile. Though I honestly don't see much point in it because I don't have deadlines anymore because I never made them before. That rhymed Lol... Okay so now I'm just talking about random stuff... Muahaha I've added in people and you can't do anything about it and I know you probably don't care but whatever... Umm. Yeah that's about it... Please R&R! ... well just review... cuz I don't think you're going to read the chapter again... unless you're weird like me and read stories like 50 zillion times...  
NOODLES!


	14. Alchemy

**_I'M SO SORRY!!!_ Please forgive me T.T I've been so pre-occupied the past little while (though my friends may think otherwise...) IT'S UP! IT'S DONE! This chapter took several tries before I finally got it. I appoligize... This chapter is short. I have a whole pile of attempts for this chapter but none of them fit. They just weren't right. I'll get the next up sooner! I swear! T.T I hope you guys didn't give up on me. Please just be patient with me right now T.T I'm going through this weird sickness thing and schoolwork is piling up and my birthday is happening in the next couple days... (Saturday! Yahoo!!!) Anyways, here it is. THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER 14!!!**

**DISCLAIMER: (bleck I hate these things) Don't own Fma. **

**ONWARD!!**

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I wish you would have known; the things you didn't tell me would eventually cause more trouble than the truth.

---

Crystal headed down the stairs into the basement. Just the dim light from the door crept into the darkness. She fumbled around for a bit in search of the light switch. "Stupid thing… where is it?" She patted both hands around the wall until one met the light switch. She flicked it on and looked around. She was standing in a small room, the staircase a meter or two away from her. She walked over to the door and opened it to find a large dark room. She flicked on the switch, which was easier to find due to the dim light caused by the open door.

The room she stood in was very spacious. A phone was hooked up on the wall to her right, a small table sat beneath it. A pen and notepad sat neatly on the table. "Freezer room… Freezer room… Uuhh…" she looked around her. She sighed. Might as well just try all the rooms. She walked over to the room closest to her and opened the door. "Um?" A desk sat, across the room from her, with a computer that was quietly running. A bookshelf sat in the corner beside the desk, a couch and coffee table in front of it. "Another study?" _Well, duh._ _It isn't a living room._ She shut the door and headed to the largest room. _Doubt this is the freezer room…_ She turned the doorknob, causing the door to open with a creak. She walked into the dark room. The floor changed from carpet to a cold concrete, sending chills up her spine. She brushed her hand along the wall until she found the light switch. _Why are basements so dark? Duh… no light. _Several bookshelves lined the far wall. She walked up to one of them, passing a table covered in paper and books marked with sticky notes. She pulled a book down from the shelf and read the title. "Alchemy?" _I've heard Ed and Al talk about Alchemy before… _She flipped through the large book a bit, stopping on a page. A large circle was drawn, several things labeled. _What the heck is a transmutation circle?_ She quickly shut the book and put it away. She looked about. In the center of the room a large area was covered in white powder. She knelt down and put her finger to it. _Chalk?_ She gathered some of the powder on her finger and looked at it. She rubbed it between her finger and thumb. _Definitely chalk… _She looked over to a single cabinet on the wall. _That's probably where their chalk and stuff is… _She pushed herself up and looked around once more then froze.

"Crystal?" Edward called from the top of the stairs.

_Oh crap. _She quickly turned and jolted out of the room, quickly closing the door behind her.

The stairs creaked a bit as Ed descended the stairs.

She made a dash across the area between the room she was just in and the room she hadn't tried yet. _Please, God, let this be the freezer room. _She grasped the doorknob…

"Crystal?"

She looked over to see Ed standing outside the small room with the staircase. "Y-yeah?" She could swear sweat was pouring off her face.

Ed gave her a questioning glance. "Need help?"

She pressed her hand to her chest, as if trying to muffle her thumping heart. _Why am I so scared?!_ "Uh… just had a bit of trouble finding the Freezer room."

Ed squinted a bit at her. "I see."

"Uuh…" she looked at her right hand, which was still firmly grasping the handle. "This is it… right?"

"…Yeah."

"Right. Okay. Good. I'm just going to go get the-" The sound of her heartbeat filled her ears as she was cut off.

"You saw."

"S-saw?" _Thump, thump…_

"Crystal. You went in that room," he gestured to the largest of the rooms.

"What are you talking about?!" _Thump, thump, thump…_

"Don't lie to me." He gave a stern look. "You have chalk dust all over your pants."

_Damn it… _"I-"

"What do you know?"

"I don't know anything."

"Tell me the truth."

"I am!"

"Crystal."

"Look, I just saw a couple pages of a book."

Edward rubbed his forehead.

"It's not like I know what Alchemy is."

He froze. Slowly he looked up at her.

"Why are you keeping these things from me anyways?"

All she received was a dark look. "I have to go talk to Al."

"Edward!"

He turned his back to her and headed back up the stairs.

"Edward!!"

The door shut with a loud clack.

Crystal sighed and turned back to the door. She grasped the doorknob with both hands but stopped. She rested her forehead against the door and closed her eyes. _Why is he keeping things from me? _She heard a few shouts from upstairs. _Can't he trust me?_ A loud clatter and a shout that sounded as if it had come from Roy were heard. _Ed has been acting strange lately… _She heard a few more shouts, one sounded distinctly like 'Bastard'. She looked up as she heard the door open and someone loudly descend the staircase. She quickly opened the door and flicked on the light switch, which was a lot easier to find that the others. She walked around some shelves and found the freezer. She opened it and started rummaging around in search for the icepacks that were supposedly in there.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked.

"What I came down here to do," she replied, not looking up.

"Well Ed and Al wanna talk to you."

"Why are you here to get me? Ed has feet."

"Cause they asked me to get you."

"Yeah right."

"Well, they're still talking. So I took the liberty of getting you."

"That's what I thought." She stopped rummaging and pulled out 4 icepacks. "That's it?!"

"Guess so. Let's go."

"Bleck," she grunted and threw and icepack at him.

"Ouch."

"Would you just go upstairs? I'll be there in a second," she glared at him, irritated.

"Fine," he rolled his eyes. "Don't take a year."

As he turned to leave, she stuck her tongue out.

"I saw that."

She froze.

"Yeah. Be afraid. Be _very_ afraid."

"That was just luck."

"Whatever you say."

The door clicked shut behind him as he left. Crystal turned back to the freezer, brushing off Roy's disturbance, and dug a bit more. _Oh come on, they can't have just four…_ Jackpot. She'd hit the mother load. At the bottom of the freezer, 10 icepacks were clumped together; along with them were 5 bags of ice. She grinned and dug the icepacks out, piling them in her arms. Awkwardly, she closed the freezer. Now for the irritating task of opening the door. She groaned. Struggling, she managed to grasp the handle and turn it, moving backwards to open it. With a good grip on the pile of icepacks the door was easy to close. She stopped and glanced at the door to the large room. _'What do you know?' _She shook her head. _'Tell me the truth.'_ The truth… Ed had had a bit of urgency in his voice… he had sounded like there was something in there that she shouldn't be seeing… that she shouldn't know… _'Tell me the truth.'_ Ed was so big on her telling the truth… but it seemed he was keeping so many things from her. She shrugged it off. There was no use dwelling on it for the moment, she needed to be prepared for the big conversation she was going to have to have with Ed and Al. She sighed and looked at the stairs. Was it just her or were they mocking her?

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**Oh, btw. I'm going to start doing sentences on some of the chapters I think they add to the story a bit. That and I got the idea from seeing several other authors do it ; Eheh... Please Review! I want to know who hasn't given up on me. **


	15. Amestris

**O.o Wow I got this chapter up fast! Lol it's kinda short, sorry... Please review T.T I feel like people have given up on me... REVIEW IF ONLY BECAUSE OF MY BIRTHDAY! (which is tomorrow by the way) I promise to get chapters up sooner because I'm getting pretty antsy waiting to get to the end. I've planned to only have up to 7 more chapters. but dont worry if you like this story you'll like the one I'm going to work on after it. **

**DISCLAIMER: (I swear i'm gonna stop doing these -.-) I dont own Fma. If I did... wellll... You've read my fanfics. If I owned FMA they would be published. And you all would review! T.T Please review...**

**ONWARD!**

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Fight with me all you want, the only thing I'm looking for is the truth…

---

Edward paced around the kitchen while Crystal sat in one of the kitchen chairs, hands clasped on her lap. Al was glancing back an forth at the two, he knew it was something Ed wanted to tell her about himself but he was being ridiculous. Roy and Ayla were still here, which was probably why Ed wasn't talking about it. The silence that filled the room was deafening, only broken by the patter of Ed's feet. Al glanced down at Amber, who was sitting on the floor next to him. She quietly rested her head on his good leg, which caused him to entwine his hand in her hair. "Argh! This is stupid. Roy, we're going to miss our dinner reservations." Roy looked at his watch and nodded. Pushing off the wall he led her out the door. The room stayed silent until a few minutes after the door had shut. Ed was the one to break the silence. "What do you know?"

"I told you! I don't know anything!" Crystal shot back.

"Oh give me a break," he turned his back to her and ran his automail hand through his hair.

"Brother… You're accusing her of this, but why wont you consider that she's telling the truth?"

"Because! She said she flipped through books, and she told me she didn't know anything about _alchemy_! When I asked her what she knew, I didn't mention anything about alchemy!"

"But brother… all the books in that room have the word '_alchemy_' on the covers…"

Edward turned to look at Al and shot a quick glance at Crystal. "Even so!!"

"Edward," Amber looked over at him. "You can't assume the worst, all the time."

"I can too!"

"Brother, you're being irrational and stubborn."

"You guys aren't taking things seriously enough!"

"Yes we are," Amber closed her eyes and nodded. "We need to know everything that happened before we can just assume she knows things."

"But-"

"She's right," Al looked down at Amber then over at Crystal.

"Can Ed and I… talk alone?" Crystal was still staring at her hands.

The room was silent for a few moments. "Uh… Yeah," Amber blinked. "Al cant really go anywhere right now…"

Crystal stood and turned to Ed. "Well? Let's go."

Edward stared at her for a few moments before nodding. "Uh… right…"

She brushed past him and went into the hall. She waited until he followed and then went into the family room. A bookshelf sat against the far wall. Two couches sat facing each other, a coffee table in between. The walls were painted a light blue and a large window at the front lighting the room. Crystal walked over to a couch that sat in front of the window. Behind it were two ferny plants and a table with several pictures of Ed and Al when they were small. A picture in the middle of the rest was of a woman with light brown hair… the same woman Crystal had seen the dream she had had a while ago. Crystal sat down on the couch and looked over at Ed who was standing in the doorway. "Why are you keeping things from me, Ed?" she asked, looking down at her hands.

"You aren't ready to know about some things…" he said, looking at the wall.

"Why not? Amber knows! Why am I so much different than her?" she shot at him.

"…Al told her… and she found out by herself… she's seen things…"

"I've seen things too. Why can't you just tell me?"

"…Because I'm not ready to tell you…"

Crystal looked over at him. "What? Why?" her voice softened but still pushed at him.

He looked at the ground for a few moments then met her gaze. "Because I don't know if I can trust you yet…"

She fell silent. Her gaze dropped to her hands. "Why not?"

He was silent, as if considering the question. "Because I don't want you to be afraid of me."

"Afraid of you? Why?" she asked, meeting his eyes.

He glanced down at the floor. "I've done some things I'm not too proud of…"

"… Edward…" she whispered.

"I just… I can't tell you right now!"

Her gaze dropped to his right arm. "Your arm… can't you at least tell me about that?"

He stiffened a bit. "If I did it'd reveal a lot of things about me I'm not sure you're ready to hear… and I'm not sure I'm ready for you to know them… besides it's a long story."

"I'm ready, Ed. Whatever it is, I wont change my opinion about you." She patted the couch, "And I've got the time."

He looked over to her and sighed. "You're sure?"

"Positive."

He hesitantly walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. He put a hand on her knee and looked at her, firmly, in the eyes. "You have to promise you wont tell anyone."

"I promise."

"You're sure you want to hear?"

"Edward! I'm sure!"

He looked at her for a moment before drawing in a breath and beginning. "When Al and I were young… we studied Alchemy, still do, but back then it was just to get attention and praise from our mother… Our father, the bastard he was, left us and never contacted us. When Al was 10 and I was 11… our mother died." He stopped when Crystal let out a small gasp but continued when she blushed and apologized. "Our father didn't respond to any of the letters we'd written him and we ended up studying Alchemy with Izumi Curtis. After we trained for about a year she let Al and I go and we went back to our house in Resembool… There we searched for and studied the art of human transmutation. When Al was 11 and I was 12 we attempted a human transmutation… that's when I lost my leg… Al lost his entire body. I was able to get his soul with my arm. So there you have it."

Crystal was looking at him with sympathy and respect. "…Oh Edward… you poor boys!"

"So what do you think of me now?"

"I told you I wouldn't change my opinion about you. And I still want to know more."

"If I tell you do u promise not to leave my side?"

She blushed. "Of course."

"As a friend?"

She blushed more and waved a hand about. "What do you think I thought you meant?"

"I'm not sure," he eyed her suspiciously.

"Stop changing the subject and tell me the rest of the story!" she exclaimed.

"Damn. Fine."

She poked him in the arm. "I'm persistent. Now tell."

"After I lost my limbs I got automail. We'd heard stories about the Philosopher's Stone and decided to search for it to get our original bodies back. I joined the military to find gain access to more information. We've traveled to nearly every corner of Amestris in search of the stone, each time our lead just ends up being a fake."

"Where is Amestris? Europe or something?"

"Crystal. We come from a different world."

She looked at him, startled. "A different world?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh… Sorry… I shouldn't interrupt. Keep going."

He hesitated. "Well after a while we got permission to cross the gate and do research in this world. It's strange, though. We keep meeting people similar to ones we know in our world."

"Really?" she raised both eyebrows. "Who?"

"Envy… Roy..."

"Are you friends with the Envy and Roy in your world?"

"Yeah right. Envy wants me dead and Roy's the bastard colonel who cracks all the small jokes."

"People in your world sound nice…" Crystal observed sarcastically.

"That's all I'm telling you for now."

"But--!"

"Nope," he shook his head.

"Aww…"

Ed grinned and ruffled her hair before standing up and walking to the door. He waved his hand and gazed back at her. "Some other time. You need to think things over."

She frowned and gave him a puppy dog pout.

"I said no. Now start thinking." He laughed and went back to the kitchen.

Crystal crossed her arms and fell back into the chair. She stuck out her lower lip and blew some of the loose strands of her hair out of her face. _But I don't want to think about it…_

---

_and maybe a way into your heart…_

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**_And god said, "Let there be reviews!" and so there was reviews._ And now to make sure of that I shall sprinkle pixie dust on you and wave Ed's watch infront of your face... _tick tick tick..._** **you are getting sleeeppyyy... oh so sleeepyyy... you will press that nice little button right there and leave me a nice little review... so very sleepy... _tick tick tick..._**


	16. Nightmare Within

**HELLO AGAIN!! Bleck XD sorry about the wait... I've had a bunch of homework and... ; I've been working on another story AS WELL as a stupid Creation Myth that we have to do in Language Arts... so my mind was set on that for a while. Anyhoo. WITHOUT FURTHER ADO! I GIVE YOU...** _-drumroll- _**CHAPTER 16!!!!!! NIGHTMARE WITHIN!!**

**DISCLAIMER:** _-sigh-_ I dont own FMA. Or the Gate... bleck or alot of other things in here. I DO OWN THE FANFIC THOUGH! SO HA!!

**FORWARD MARCH!! **Oh... wait... I mean

**ONWARD!!!!!**

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_This dream is so unreal..._

_---_

_Fire burned in lanterns along the wall. The dim glow gave off just enough light to see the objects that sat in the hallway. There were tables with unlit candles along the walls. Small ferny plants sat on the tables as well. Paintings of castles and portraits of royal people hung on the wall. Shadows flickered about, almost dancing but in a menacing way. Crystal shuddered. This place… where'd she seen it before? The carpet was a faded red but was still the colour of fresh blood. The shadows crept about her, as if wanting to grab her. She moved forwards a bit, looking around. The hallway seemed endless, going farther into the darkness than she could see. There were no doors, and no windows. She turned around to see if there was an exit in the other direction but like the other way, she couldn't see further than the dim light let her. She turned back to the way she was facing before and started to walk. The lanterns behind her seemed to go out as the ones in front of her lit up. The shadows around her seemed to darken and grow, dancing about in their eerie way. She sped up a bit, trying to get away from the shadows, the lanterns lighting up and going out as she past. A few of the shadows seemed to reach for her. She began to run through the endless hallway. _

_This had to be a dream… there was no way a hall in real life could be endless… but it felt so real. She could feel the heat from the flames and the cool draft that blew them out. She could feel the chill that ran through her body as the shadows reached for her. She could feel every emotion that ran through her. Every breath she took and every rush of adrenalin that overtook her. Her heart beat furiously as she raced through the dim hallway. She gasped as she felt the floor beneath her give way into a dark pit. She quickly reached and grabbed the edge and was flung painfully into the wall of the pit. She rubbed her side gingerly with her free hand. She heard a few loud cracking sounds and looked up at the section of wall she was being held by. Large cracks were forming in the wall around her hand, small pebbles dropping and dust clouding. She closed her eyes tightly as the wall gave way and she began to fall. She let out a shrill scream as she fell into the darkness._

---

Edward lay awake, staring out the window. The moonlight illuminated his tired features. He sat up and sighed. There wasn't much hope of him falling asleep right now, was there? He ran his fingers through his now knotted hair, which fell a few inches below his shoulders.

He tossed the blankets off and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He headed into the hall and down the stairs, being careful not to wake his brother. In the kitchen he flicked on the light and made his way over to the cupboard to get a glass. After filling it with water he went down the hall into the study and looked around the dark room.

He placed the water on the coffee table and went over to the bookcase. He pulled out a random book, not really caring what it was about at this hour, he just needed to read. He sat down on the couch and crossed his feet on the coffee table, next to his water. The leather couch was easy to just sit back and relax in. He stretched a bit and opened the book and began reading.

Sometime through his reading he must have lost himself and drifted off to sleep because he wasn't in the study anymore…

White clouded his vision in all directions. The room was incredibly bright and yet so dreary. He shielded his eyes from the brightness and looked about. White, white, and more white. It was as if he were walking through a room of clouds… He waved his hand out beside him and watched as the misty white swirled about and then stilled again. Water almost… but not quite… it was like… chalk dust? Red flashes of light electrocuted the air around him. His eyes widened. The red lightning was the same as on that night… He closed his eyes tightly and tried to wake himself but something kept him in that room. A scream filled his ears and his eyes opened wide as it faded away. _That scream… it sounded like…_ The shrill scream echoed through the room. _Crystal?_

---

_She hit hard ground… but it didn't hurt like it should have… she sat up and looked around. The room was dark, very dark. It seemed as if dark gray clouds filled the room… _Dark gray clouds… like on a stormy night…_ She shuddered at the thought. She was not in the mood to run around in storm clouds right now._

_Blue lightning flashed through the room. _Oh this is just perfect…_ she sighed. She got up and moved forward a bit. The same blue lightning flashed in front of her. She frowned. This wasn't like normal lightning… it seemed to dance about in an angry way and stay for longer than a few seconds… and it was a bright, yet deep, blue… not a white or light blue…_

---

Edward wandered around a bit. The scream had stopped and so had the lightning. The room was weighed down with a heavy silence. It was like this room had no door… Ed let his eyes widen as he felt the floor beneath him give away. He quickly clapped his hands together but found that there was nothing to transmute… there was nothing around him… just the bright white dusty air above him and the blackness beneath him. He seemed to be suspended in the air, neither falling nor standing… he was being held there by something… Everything seemed to stand still… he couldn't move… and then he began to fall, very slowly, as if in slow motion. He let himself fall.

Things seemed to speed up a bit as he entered the darkness. Suddenly, he felt himself being thrown down into the darkness. He extended his arms and legs to create some drag to slow him, even if just by the slightest bit.

---

_She reached out and passed her hand through a streak of the light as it flashed in front of her. It didn't burn her… or electrocute her… it was just as if it was a ray of stray light that bounced around in the clouds… nothing like lightning… She passed her hand through another. Something bugged her. _It's so cold…_ She frowned and looked at her hand. _So… cold…_ Why did she feel so dizzy? She swayed a bit. She felt her legs give way from beneath her. And then, darkness…_

---

He hit the ground. But… it should have hurt? The ground beneath him seemed so soft while being so hard… where was he? He stood up and moved around through the darkness. Going from bright to dark wasn't the easiest thing to do. It would take him a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

He put his hands out in front of him and walked a few meters before his hands hit something. He brushed his bare hand against the smooth surface. _A wall, maybe?_ He ran his hand over it again. _Made of what, though?_ It felt almost like… glass? His eyes were finally beginning to adjust. The surface shone from a very dim light behind him. He turned around. It wasn't any sort of light, really… he turned back to the glass wall and as if on cue, torches along the walls lit up. He glanced around, wondering how they lit up and then gazed through the glass. He stood there shocked, eyes wide. Crystal lay on the floor a few feet on the other side of the glass. "Crystal?" he whispered. She didn't move… Either she couldn't hear him… or she was… "Crystal?" he said a bit louder, pressing his hands against the glass. Nothing. "Crystal?!" He looked around for someway to get to her. _Damn it!!_ _There's got to be someway…_ He clapped his hands together and pressed them against the glass. He waited a few seconds... but nothing happened. He stared at his hands. "What…?"

"You can't use alchemy in here," a voice echoed through the room.

---

_Crystal sat up in a bright room. _What the…? Is it possible to be dreaming… while you're dreaming?! _She looked around. White, white, and, oh look, more white. She sighed. Maybe she wasn't dreaming inside her dream… maybe she… had just been… transported to another room or something…She sighed and sat down. This was so stupid. A white room. She looked around some more. "Huh? What's that?" she stood up and squinted a bit. It was… a blue sphere? It seemed to be just floating in the air… She moved towards it. It seemed to be glowing… it gave off a pale blue light that only seemed to surround the ball and not go any further. Where was the rest of the light coming from, then?_

_She stopped in front of it. It was the same colour as the lightening had been in the dark room. The ball seemed to be urging her to touch it… just reach out and touch it. She brought her hand up and extended it, hesitating a bit before putting it in the center of the light._

---

Ed spun around. "Who's there?!"

"You should very well know who I am, young alchemist, for we have met before."

The voice was chilling… and familiar… but where had he heard it? "What have you done to Crystal?!"

"I haven't done any harm to her. You're friend has only been put to sleep for a short while."

"Why?!"

"I wanted to talk with you, but she arrived here before you did. I couldn't have her intruding in on our conversation and finding out things a nice girl like her shouldn't know."

"I swear… if you hurt her in any way…"

"I didn't. But now we must talk, for she will only be under a short while."

Ed was getting really irritated. _Where the hell have I heard that voice before?_ "…I'll talk with you… but only if you show me who you are."

"…Alright. But you should remember me. I have spoken to you face to face before."

"Just show me, damn it!"

Wind swirled violently around his half of the room. Black clouds gathered in the center of the room, the hands of the Gate swaying about. Edward frowned, but kept his eyes fixed on the center of the black cloud. _The Gate… damn! Why is it always around!!_ The wind died down and Ed returned his full attention to the cloud as it vanished. His eyes widened. _No…_

_---_

_but it feels like it's taking over me..._

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** Please Please review!! I love reviews! So pleaase take five seconds out of your _busy_ life and just press ta preety leetle button! You know you _want_ to.**


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